Vienna – Everything has been at a standstill in tourism since November. From a current perspective, the current lockdown will probably apply to hotels and restaurants until the end of February – in any case, they will not be included in the first easing steps from February 8th. The dreary situation is also having an impact on the job market: around 72,000 people are currently looking for work in the industry – around 50 percent more than a year ago, as the latest data from the Ministry of Labor show.

“The tourism job market is extremely difficult at the moment,” said Tourism Minister Elisabeth Köstinger (ÖVP) at a press conference on Tuesday. This applies to the accommodation sector as well as to the catering and events sector. “Around a third of the crisis-related job seekers are on tourism Minister of Labor Martin Kocher (ÖVP) emphasized. The more than 70,000 unemployed in tourism correspond to a share of around 16 percent of the total unemployment in Austria. “We have a big challenge in tourism,” said Kocher.

Short-time working is used extensively, there is a threat of a shortage of skilled workers

But even there, short-time work is used heavily. This would currently secure around 130,000 jobs in the industry. Around 70 percent of those employed in tourism are currently on short-time work. According to the information, this is around a quarter of all short-time workers in Austria.

📽️ Video | Press conference on unemployment and tourism:

“The access to ‘short-time work instead of layoffs’ has proven itself,” said Köstinger. In the area of ​​accommodation and catering alone, the short-time work instrument “saved” 129,000 jobs, according to the Ministry of Labor. The option of reducing working hours to zero percent will initially apply until the end of March. “This gives companies the security of being able to keep their employees,” said the tourism minister. An extension is already in the room: “Today there are also talks with social partners to negotiate successor models,” reported the minister.

But it’s not just about maintaining jobs, but also about winning back employees for the time after the crisis – keyword shortage of skilled workers, for example among service staff and cooks. “A lot of people have left the industry in the past few months,” Köstinger admitted. (APA)