More than every second Austrian company has already considered emigration. The reasons are the high tax burden (57 percent), labor shortages (41 percent), high energy prices (34 percent) and what is perceived as too much bureaucracy (30 percent).
39 percent would move parts of the company, 17 percent the entire company. This is one of the outcomes of the infrastructure report among local managers. More and more business people doubt whether Austria is the right location for them. Less than one in three people (29 percent) still consider Austria competitive. Five years ago this was six in ten respondents.
Crashed in the competitive rankings
The comparison with other countries proves that the managers are right. Austria even fell from 16th to 26th place (out of 67 countries) in the international competition rankings of the Lausanne business school IMD.
In the battle for investors, EU countries are now competing with much more dynamic economic areas such as the BRICS. The deciding factors are tax incentives, legal and planning security and infrastructure, says study author David Ungar-Klein from the Future Business Austria (FBA) initiative.
What consequences would emigration have?
If companies with production were to move from Austria, this would have far-reaching consequences for security of supply, according to Ungar-Klein. In the field of pharmaceutical supply, for example, around 80 percent of the active ingredients required in Europe already come from third countries, mainly China and India.
Because infrastructure is believed to play a key role in competitiveness, the report recommends an expansion of digital infrastructure, such as the nationwide expansion of broadband and 5G infrastructure.
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.
