Collective labor agreement negotiations will begin at the end of October for more than 570,000 retail employees. “There must be a total package that companies cannot manage alone,” trade chairman Rainer Trefelik said on Wednesday at the WKÖ “Trade Day” in Vienna. AMS board member Johannes Kopf even said that companies had to dance to find employees.
“The problem of labor shortages will continue to concern us,” he said. In retail, the part-time quota for women is over 60 percent and for men around 20. According to a survey presented at the Trade Day by the Austrian Chamber of Commerce (WKÖ), ten percent of respondents “would like to increase to full-time .” About one in three people (32 percent) would like to work a few more hours, but according to research from Johannes Kepler University (JKU), the majority do not want to work more hours (58 percent).
Meaningful vacancies are required
AMS board member Johannes Kopf said: ‘Now they (entrepreneurs, take note) have to dance to find employees.’ On Wednesday he presented a long list of measures to help combat labor shortages, including expanding childcare, recruiting workers from and outside the EU and expanding apprenticeship training. Job advertisements should also be meaningful and state the net salary.
Other topics on the trading day included significantly higher personnel, rental and energy costs and in this context the outstanding energy cost subsidy 2. The directive must first be approved in Brussels, says Eva Landrichter, Secretary General of the Ministry of Economic Affairs. According to the participants, domestic trade is suffering from the aftermath of Corona, a rise in inflation and interest rates and the associated weak consumer demand.
Many bankruptcies
Well-known retailers such as Kika/Leiner, Forstinger, Gerry Weber Austria, Reno and the Sport 2000 cooperative Zentrasport have already had to file for bankruptcy this year. Salamander and Delka closed all branches in Austria in the summer.
WKÖ president Harald Mahrer now expects “major upheavals” for the retail and wholesale of office supplies in Austria. “The right preconditions” must be created, “we will fight for these incentives in the social partnership.”
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.
