On the occasion of the bankruptcy of the furniture chain Kika/Leiner, Minister of Labor invited Martin Kocher (ÖVP) to a round table discussion. AMS boss Johannes Kopf, director of the Insolvency Remuneration Fund (IEF), Wolfgang Pfabigan, and representatives of the social partners will be present. The central question is how the employees affected by the bankruptcy can best be supported in their search for work.
The goal is to get anyone who is now losing their job back to work “as quickly as possible,” Kocher said before talks began. The early warning system of the National Employment Office (AMS) was activated for this this week. Ideally, this would mean mediating before the layoffs are officially announced.
Fewer layoffs than feared?
Kopf estimated the number of registrations as part of the early warning system at 1034. He assumes that many of these employees will soon be able to transfer immediately. Regarding the initially announced reduction of about 1,900 jobs, Kopf said he expected to receive a second early warning from Kika/Leiner to the AMS. Nevertheless, he is optimistic that “in the end it won’t be as many as initially said”.
As part of the renovation of the ailing furniture chain, 23 of the 40 branches in Austria are being closed. The situation in the labor market can benefit staff about to be laid off: in May, the AMS registered as many as 117,000 vacancies, thousands of them in the retail sector. In addition, numerous local companies have recently indicated that they are willing to hire Kika/Leiner employees.
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.
