Index
- Legal changes from January 1, 2024
- The world turned upside down in the job market
- 2024 EU employment report gives Austria good marks
- Covid is driving disease rates to record levels
- Presentation of the Health Yearbook on January 9, 2024 – Focus on Smart Health
Dear readers,
nothing is as constant as change (Heraclitus): There will be a lot of cool changes on January 1, 2024, which we have summarized. 33 years (!) after the Constitutional Court declared the different retirement ages unconstitutional, the retirement age for women is increasing.
Changes also in the job market: The economy normally grows faster than employment, but since 2022 it has been the opposite – more employment despite the recession. Companies are retaining employees despite rising costs and a weak economy. But that could change…
Despite inflation and economic recession, the social and labor market situation in the EU is stable. Austria is socially better than the EU average, but economically worse.
In addition to the poor economy, there is also the burden of a record level of sick leave, not just currently, but possibly permanently.
On January 9, 2024, the 2023 Health Yearbook will be presented – for the 15th time.
This marks the end of a difficult year for the economy. We wish all readers a peaceful and contemplative Christmas and a happy new year in 2024.
Rolf Gleißner, Julia Moreno-Hasenöhrl
and the entire health and social policy team at the Austrian Economic Chamber
Legal changes from January 1, 2024
At the turn of the year and on important dates soon after, many changes in labor and social legislation emerge again. The National Council only decided on some of these on December 14, 2023, so further legislation remains to be seen.
Overview (pdf)
The world turned upside down in the job market
Labor market research institute Synthesis analyzed the economy's impact on employment and job demand in 2023 and 2024. The unusual result: employment is growing even though the economy is shrinking.
The public economy has been stagnant or contracted for five quarters. Despite this economic weakness, employment will increase by 44,700 people in 2023 and is expected to grow by another 30,000 in 2024. Companies' demand for personnel remains high. The number of vacancies communicated to AMS is still significantly higher than the pre-crisis year of 2019.
Productivity per employee and per hour is decreasing
Typically the economy grows faster than employment because productivity per worker increases. Since 2022 it has been the opposite! Companies are maintaining or increasing their staff despite the recession. As a result, personal and hourly productivity will decrease significantly in 2023.
© AMS/Synthesis Research
On average, we work fewer hours than before COVID. In the last eight quarters, however, there has been no reduction in working hours – contrary to the long-term trend – on the contrary. According to Statistics Austria, the volume of working hours also increased by 1.8% in the first three quarters of 2023. Employment growth since 2022 cannot therefore be explained by working time effects.
Fluctuation tends to increase in periods of weak economic activity. Contrary to this pattern, the number of job entries and exits fell in 2023 compared to 2022 and 2019.
Companies “accumulate” workers
One explanation for the opposing labor market trends is that, given the labor shortages of recent years and the decline in the number of young professionals, companies are retaining their employees, even if they are not being used to the maximum (labor accumulation).
Due to special effects, the labor force potential will increase enormously by 52,300 in 2023. This is due to massive immigration with refugee background in 2021 and 2022 (displaced people from Ukraine, people from Syria, Afghanistan and Chechnya). These people are only recorded in labor market statistics after the asylum procedure and language acquisition and therefore with a delay. The number of domestic workers, however, is decreasing.
Conclusion: Companies continue to retain their staff despite low utilization. However, this could change if labor costs rise sharply as a result of wage agreements and there is no light at the end of the tunnel in economic terms.
https://www.ams-forschungsnetzwerk.at/downloadpub/2023-AMS-Quartalsprognose4_2023-2024.pdf
by Mag. Maria Kaun
2024 EU employment report gives Austria good marks
The European Commission tracks progress towards achieving the EU's objectives on jobs, skills and poverty reduction in the Joint Employment Report. The situation is stable despite inflation and economic recession.
The EU economy is expected to grow by just 0.8% in 2023 – but the job market is stable: the EU employment rate reached 75.4% in the second quarter of 2023 (Ö 77.3%), the unemployment rate is currently the same as a year ago at 6% (Ö 5.1%). Interestingly, the new EU states consistently have few unemployed people, with Sweden and Finland recording the third and fifth highest rates (behind Spain and Greece). There are challenges especially for low-skilled people and people with a migration background.
Shortage of workers across the EU
There is a shortage of workers across the EU: the job vacancy rate was 2.7% in the second quarter of 2023, well above the 1.7% average for the period 2013-19. Bottlenecks are primarily found in industries such as healthcare, STEM, construction, and certain service professions.
The shortage is compounded by an EU-wide trend towards actually shorter working hours. The report therefore recommends supporting underrepresented groups such as women, young and older workers and people with an immigration background. Equally important is promoting mobility within the EU by recruiting skilled workers from third countries and targeting legal migration towards jobs in short supply. The EU's new talent pool can contribute to this.
The risk of poverty has decreased slightly
Salaries in the EU rose to 4.8% in 2022, well below the rate of inflation. Despite inflation, the number of people at risk of poverty or social exclusion decreased by 279,000 across the EU in 2022. However, to reach the EU target by 2030 – namely lifting 15 million people out of poverty compared to 2019 – more efforts must be made.
Austria performs above average in most categories. Social protection is well developed and poverty rates are well below the EU average. The percentage of adults with basic digital skills is high (63.3% compared to 54% in the EU). And the Austrians are “European runners-up” when it comes to part-time work: behind the Netherlands, Austria has the highest part-time shares in the EU, at 30%, and for women, at 50.3 % – in both countries, in fact, more than 90% are volunteers.
For the report: COM_2023_904_1_EN_ACT_part1_v6.pdf (europa.eu)
by Mag. Christa Schweng
Covid is driving disease rates to record levels
The numbers show: we are not just in a wave of Covid and infections. The entire sick leave “sea level” is permanently higher than it was before Covid.
The ÖGK currently receives more than 300,000 medical certificates every week. This means that more than one in ten employees is on sick leave – and the ÖGK only records cases that are considered ill by a doctor.
According to the ÖGK, the main causes are respiratory diseases, flu-like infections, influenza and Covid. The Covid curve, in particular, is rising sharply. Since measurements began, such a high viral load has not been measured in wastewater monitoring. However, the proportion of serious cases is significantly lower than in previous years. Around 1,200 people are currently being treated for Covid in local hospitals.
Illnesses are bitter for those affected, but also for colleagues who have to intervene and for companies who lose professional performance at full cost. Additional costs or losses arise from colleagues’ overtime, loss of added value, etc. It's probably around 250 euros per day of work lost.
Higher disease rates since 2022 than before Covid
What is more serious than the current burden is that there have been significantly more sick days since 2022 than before Covid. The ÖGK has already reported 5 million cases from January to October 2023, which will certainly surpass the previous record of 5.7 million in 2022 this year. Although Austrians were sick for 12-13 days for 20 years before Covid, they were on sick leave for 15 days in 2022 and even more in 2023. German health insurers also report increases of up to 22% compared to 2022.
Covid virus load according to wastewater monitoring
© Wastewater Monitoring Austria
Causes for registry values
“Looking at developments in the 1920s with influenza, I assume there will be smaller and smaller waves of Covid-19 disease in the coming years – currently Covid is still virulent and constantly changing, so it has not yet become a perfect defense position. “Furthermore, due to protective measures in recent years, the situation of infection with flu-like infections and influenza has not been as intense, so the immune system has been less trained and is more susceptible to infections,” says the Dr. Andreas Krauter, chief physician at the ÖGK. He recommends the known pandemic measures: “Wear a mask in crowds, disinfect your hands, keep your distance and ventilate the environments. And, of course, vaccination against flu and Covid, which at least prevents serious courses and secondary illnesses.”
by Mag. Christina Marx
Presentation of the Health Yearbook on January 9, 2024 – Focus on Smart Health
The Health Yearbook turns 15 years old. The anniversary offers exciting discussions and impulses on the motto: Smart health. AI systems as partners in the healthcare system.
On the podium:
Florian Turski – Secretary of State for Digitalization and Telecommunications (requested)
Peter Lehner – President of the Conference of Social Security Institutions
Gertraud Leimüller – General Director of winnovation and leiwand.ai
Romana Ruda – General Director of Future Health Lab
Click here To for the live stream, (from 10am to 11:30am)
(possible until January 8th)
print out
Austrian Chamber of Commerce
Wiedner Hauptstraße 63, 1045 Vienna
Department of Social and Health Policy
Boss: Mag. Dr. Rolf Gleißner
Telephone: +43 (0)5 90 900 4286
[email protected]
https://wko.at/sp
