What will 2024 bring? When entrepreneurs in Upper Austria are asked about their feelings about the coming year, there is widespread concern and skepticism. “We lost competitiveness last year,” says Doris Hummer, president of the Upper Austrian Economic Association. An IMAS study provides details.
The higher costs, more expensive financing and the faltering economic engine in Germany, on which Austria is also heavily dependent, are currently placing enormous demands on domestic companies.
“We had a recession last year and the bottom has not yet been reached. We still have a difficult six months ahead of us,” said Doris Hummer, president of the Upper Austrian Economic Association, on behalf of whom IMAS pollster Paul Eiselsberg surveyed Upper Austrian entrepreneurs. Conclusion: 47% of respondents look to 2024 with confidence, 30% with skepticism, 21% even with concern.
Striking: where last year the labor shortage was the biggest burden for entrepreneurs, it is now inflation that is becoming the biggest problem. “The rising costs are reflected in all areas,” says Hummer.
Things will become even more difficult for various sectors, such as construction. Hummer says, “We have a lot of uncertainty.”
Wanted: independent authority against bureaucracy
The head of the Economic Association can understand that the bureaucracy is putting a damper on the mood: “We need an independent authority here that only cares about what we can scrap.”
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.
