The number of vacancies reached a record high last year. With an average of 206,500 vacancies over the year, Austrian companies reported 41.4 percent more vacancies than in 2021 and 61.1 percent more than in the pre-corona year 2019. The search duration of companies also increased significantly, Statistics Austria reported on Friday. Most job openings were in the service sector and manufacturing.
During the year, vacancies peaked at 218,100 in the third quarter. There were 202,700 vacancies in the first quarter, 206,300 in the second quarter and 198,800 in the fourth quarter. The vacancy rate, ie the share of vacancies in relation to all occupied and vacant posts, has risen sharply. This was an average of 4.8 percent, 1.2 percentage points higher than in 2021.
Largest growth in the services sector
There was growth in all sectors of the economy, especially in the services sector with 123,800 (+44.9 percent compared to 2021) and in the manufacturing sector with 52,500 (+30.5 percent). People for service professions and salespeople (21.8 percent of vacancies) were particularly sought after. Craftsmanship and related professions were also very popular in the labor market (19.5 percent).
At 83.5 percent, the majority of the jobs offered were full-time. For just over a third of all vacancies, a monthly salary of at least 2400 euros beckoned, for just over a third the range was between 1700 and 2400 euros. In terms of qualifications, 40.5 percent of all job openings required only a compulsory school leaving certificate or no minimum school qualification. Apprenticeship was mandatory for 32.2 percent of jobs. 11.1 percent needed a high school diploma and 10.3 percent needed a higher qualification.
search time increases
The length of the search period, which is noticeably longer than in previous years, points to increasing tension in the labor market. In 2019, for example, about 22 percent and in 2021 no less than 21 percent of jobs were advertised for less than a month, last year this was only about 12 percent. In 2022, 16.7 percent of jobs were searched for longer than six months, which is higher than in 2021 and 2019.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
