Austria lacks skilled workers – Labor Minister Martin Kocher wants to attract missing personnel from abroad. In the coming years, the number of red-white-red cards issued must be doubled and the duration of the procedure shortened.
Over the next four years – from the end of 2023 – the number of cards is expected to double from 8,079 to approximately 16,000 at the time, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Labor announced on Monday.
This year there is already a rush for the red-white-red card
Since the reform of the red-white-red card in the autumn of 2022, the number of cards issued has already noticeably increased. In the first two months of this year, 1,570 cards have already been issued, an increase of 39 percent compared to the same period last year. The number of red-white-red cards issued for shortage professions has also increased from 884 at the end of 2020 to 3,816 at the end of 2023.
Specific measures continue to be proposed
The duration of the procedure should be significantly reduced. From 2022 to 2023, the duration has already been reduced from 28 days to 25 days. This must now be halved within a year, but according to the ministry, the exam standards should not suffer as a result. The shortening of the procedure should increase the attractiveness of the red-white-red card and thus contribute to the issuing of more cards. Concrete measures to achieve this will be presented to an inter-ministerial strategy committee on Monday.
Source: Krone
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