New job in prospect – Kocher applies to become governor of the National Bank

“Kron”: The IV President of Lower Austria rushed forward with the demand to increase weekly working hours to 41 hours per week. The SPÖ advocates a 32-hour working week and according to a new survey, Austrians themselves would prefer to work 33.3 hours a week. What do you think is best?
Martin Kocher: It all depends on what the work is like in different areas and industries. We have a wide range of collective labor agreements with a standard weekly working hours of 36 to 40 hours. So there is already a lot of flexibility. What I have always spoken out against is a legal change to standard working hours. As far as I’m concerned, it should stay the way it is. In my opinion, 32 hours is not feasible. But I don’t think it makes sense to provide more standard working hours. The current regulations are good and offer a lot of flexibility for the collective labor agreement parties to regulate them in a way that is appropriate for the sector in question. And then of course there is also the option to work part-time. You mentioned the 33.3 hours. Currently, the actual average working time is lower, namely around 30 hours. If you take all people who work part-time and full-time together, the desired working hours would be even higher on average according to this research. I actually think it’s all a discussion that is being had ideologically now, but it’s not getting us anywhere.

Austria has the second highest part-time percentage within the European Union and also a top position when it comes to absolute full-time hours. How hardworking are we really?
Very diligent. You can see this in various figures. We have a large number of overtime hours, hence the call for more tax exemptions for overtime, as a reward for this service, which often has to be provided due to staff shortages. The actual hours worked per week, especially full-time, are also high. On the other hand, we also have a relatively large number of public holidays and days off when compared internationally, which have grown historically. So I think that the discussion about working hours distracts from the fact that we need to differentiate. We should focus on those who want to work full-time, but cannot work full-time because, for example, there are too few childcare facilities. Other debates don’t really move us forward.

As is known, the municipalities are responsible for childcare. Have you already discussed this with the new municipal chairman?
I am in very close contact with the Minister of Family Affairs, but also with the community association. You should not pass the entire burden on to the communities. That is why there is four and a half billion extra money. On the one hand, communities struggle with rapid growth. That must now be done with the extra money. But you also have to find kindergarten teachers. We currently want to continue expanding the number of nursery or childcare places for one to three year olds, because that is where the need is greatest. In Austria, the percentage of childcare from the age of three is on a good average for the European Union, but there is a need to catch up for children under the age of three.

According to the survey, Austrians would like to spend 38.8 percent of their working hours in their home office. You yourself announced more flexible rules about a year ago. The term of government is coming to an end. Will the more flexible rules still come?
Yes, they still come when I have my way. We have a ready design that is currently being coordinated within the coalition. The definition of home office is expanded to include teleworking, allowing for more flexibility. I assume that we will decide on this before the end of the parliamentary term.

The price comparison database for food is also coordinated. There was, at least according to the SPÖ, conflicting information. This is your chance to clarify this. Do you think this is necessary? And if something is needed, will she still come?
So first of all: we already clearly said at an event together with the Federal Competition Authority last fall that there should be no public price comparison database, because it does not meet the needs of all consumers who need different information. And there are already a number of private databases. What is now in political coordination is a proposal that would ensure that supermarkets provide the data via an interface and that a certain number of private providers of price comparison platforms, which must meet specific requirements, can receive this data and make it publicly available. We want to ensure that the focus is not only on the price, but also on the quality, the origin of the product and of course the quantity. These are the most important indicators for a fair price comparison. Without quality and origin you do not have complete information and we would therefore be at a disadvantage for, for example, high-quality products produced domestically compared to cheap products from abroad. Our proposal lies in political coordination. I sincerely hope that it will be adopted, but for that we need a majority.

Recently, discussions arose again about the reintroduction of the guest worker model. What do you think?
We know from the experience of the last century that the model did not work that way. Most people stayed and it took a long time for them to integrate. This means that if we know that we need additional migration of skilled workers, it makes sense to organize this in such a way that rapid integration into society is possible. This was also clearly visible in this phase of guest worker migration in the last century. I think that the slogans that the FPÖ spreads are completely out of touch with the world. It’s also about the right balance. Naturally, our primary focus is on addressing the domestic and skilled workforce potential. But you have to be honest: there is international competition for workers and skilled labor in many areas. Not only in business, but also in the health care sector. And if there is no prospect of staying, these workers and skilled workers will not come to Austria, but to other countries with similar demographic developments. Skilled workers from the European Economic Area and the red-white-red card complement domestic measures. We are continuously making improvements here after introducing a new legal regulation in October 2022.

The Marienthal labor market project, initiated by the current regional leader of the SPÖ in Lower Austria, has received international awards. The European Commission is making 20 million euros available for projects based on this model. However, the project was shot in Austria. Why?
Because as far as I know it was always planned as a temporary project. So it wasn’t filmed. Together with the AMS we support many similar projects. The springboard program for the reintegration of the long-term unemployed was financed with EUR 300 million over two years. The measures are included in the regular programme. The aim of the projects is to properly integrate people who have particular difficulties in the labor market into the primary labor market. That was the idea of ​​the Springboard program as opposed to Action 20,000. Like the Marienthal project, Aktion 20,000 focused strongly on the public sector. And the question is always whether there will be follow-up work after the funded period. The Springboard program mainly targeted private companies and led to long-term unemployment in Austria being almost halved. This current government is one of the most pro-labor governments in a very long time.

Let’s move on to your own workplace. You are still not an ÖVP member. Why not?
That has never been a problem and there has never been any discussion about it. When you are nominated for a party, you obviously share the same values ​​in many areas. In the past ten years there have been some non-party ministers who based themselves on ÖVP proposals. This openness is what distinguishes the ÖVP from other parties in Austria.

So you are not on the federal ÖVP list for the National Council elections?
No, I’m not running away. Not because I don’t find it exciting, but because I simply see more room for creativity in an executive position at the moment.

The application period for the post of Governor of the National Bank ended on Monday. They have been publicly linked to this several times. Have you registered now?
I have personally assured that I will end the term of office as minister in the best possible way. I think this is very important and then we will look at what options are available. I assume that the ÖVP will be successful in the National Council elections and that Karl Nehammer will remain Chancellor. I also really enjoyed being a scientist. Of course, in addition to that of minister, there are other positions that are very interesting for an economist. In my opinion, monetary policy, monetary policy and the stability of financial markets will play an even more important role in the future. That is why I applied for the position of Governor of the National Bank. It is a task that offers important opportunities to positively shape Austria, Europe and the location.