To meet the great need for workers in tourism, the Ministry of Economic Affairs is increasing the quota for seasonal workers from outside the EU. In concrete terms, 200 new temporary jobs will be created in addition to the previous 4,295, as Minister of Economic Affairs Martin Kocher (ÖVP) announced on Wednesday in the Council of Ministers. There was sharp criticism from the responsible trade union, but the hoteliers’ association was satisfied.
Of the new quota places, 170 are expected to be in Carinthia and another 30 in Lower Austria. The need for the coming summer season is especially great in both states, according to Kocher. By increasing the quota, the government could ensure that tourism companies have sufficient opportunities to find staff in the upcoming well-booked summer season.
Government sees “important step”
The number of additional places “may sound manageable”, says State Secretary for Tourism Susanne Kraus-Winkler (ÖVP), but it is an important step for the two states. There are currently 292 quota places in Carinthia and 68 in Lower Austria. By comparison, Tyrol and Salzburg each have more than 1,200 places.
“Measure neither creatively nor sustainably”
“This government measure is neither creative nor sustainable. We firmly reject the idea of regularly increasing the quota of seasonal workers from abroad and ignoring working conditions,” criticized Berend Tusch of the responsible trade union vida.
Those responsible should make tourism jobs more attractive instead of increasing seasonal employment quotas. “We need decent wages and stable working relationships, as well as measures to extend the season. This is the only way to keep employees from that region in the industry. It is not without reason that tourism is an industry that employees flee from,” says Tusch.
The Hotel Association (ÖHV), on the other hand, considers increasing the quota as “an order of the day”. “This is definitely going in the right direction,” said chairman Walter Veit. However, “bigger steps” are needed, he said, referring to 50,000 workers from the Western Balkans who will fill vacancies in Germany from June.
The quotas were exhausted last year
For seasonal peak periods, quotas can be exceeded by 50 percent. The quota, including the overdraft limit, was exhausted last year. Kocher again rejected calls for the abolition of seasonal quotas. In principle, the current solution is good, he said, pointing to the introduction of the rule for permanent seasonal workers and the trend towards more year-round jobs. According to the Minister of Economic Affairs, 1,064 third-country nationals with the red-white-red card came to Austria last year for year-round jobs in tourism.
At the end of April, approximately 10,000 vacancies in the tourism sector had been registered with the Employment Service (AMS). At the same time, there was an employment record: at that time approximately 195,000 people were employed in tourism outside the high season. According to vida, there are enough job seekers and people who would like to return to the tourism sector in Austria.
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.
