Minister of Labor and Economy Martin Kocher is not yet concerned that the current transformation to artificial intelligence (AI) will lead to job losses in Austria.
He emphasized this on Saturday in a conversation on the sidelines of the 15th European Media Summit in Lech. “The current findings say: no job losses,” Kocher explains, citing relevant studies. “But no one can predict what will happen in ten years.”
Changes create better quality jobs
Still, Kocher emphasized that he was optimistic about the future. If you look at the past 100 to 300 years, you can see how working life has changed as a result of the emergence of new disruptive technologies: “And in most cases, more jobs have been created than lost.”
Of course, AI will bring a change in people’s activities. “But all these changes that have happened in technology over the last 200 or 300 years have led to better, more interesting, better quality, less difficult jobs,” Kocher explains. The current development mainly affects people with average qualifications, and for the first time also people with low qualifications.
Biggest challenge in tourism
Against the background of the start of the winter season in Lech, Kocher emphasized that digitalization for the tourism sector, together with sustainability, is one of the biggest challenges for winter tourism. That is why we want to make Austria one of the most sustainable destinations in the world by 2030. However, the minister was optimistic “that in twenty to thirty years we will still have winter tourism”.
According to him, “all regions are already putting more emphasis on summer, but also on sustainability.” On the question of alternatives in the face of the climate crisis, he said: “But of course in certain valleys in the west we are to some extent dependent on tourism.”
Show at Metaller-KV “Negotiation Folklore
Kocher described the recent tough tone during metalworkers’ wage negotiations as “bargaining folklore.” The social partnership still functions well. Kocher said about the relatively high wages in the public sector that they had to be put into context. “In my opinion, it is not possible in the long term to always pay less in the public sector than in the private sector. There is also competition,” said the Minister of Labor.
Recently, metal technology industry chairman Christian Knill criticized the “unreasonably high rates” of more than nine percent.
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.
