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Minister says Germans more flexible in choice of work

Austrian Social Democratic (SP�) Labour Minister Rudolf Hundstorfer said today (Fri) Germans were more flexible than Austrians in choosing work.

He said at a UN event in New York: "Our neighbours have, shall we say, a different approach to mobility. For example, someone who wants a certain education must move, and someone who wants a certain job will not always find it in front of the door of his house."

Noting that 78,000 Germans were working in Austria compared to 60,000 Austrians who were working in Germany, the minister said: "Germans are present in all sectors, from banking to tourism. And another 17,000 or 18,000 come to Austria annually.

"That is not a criticism, for I understand why that is the case. Before I have no chance in Saxony-Anhalt, I will look across the frontier," he added.

Hundstorfer said the Austrian labour market situation would not improve in 2010 and might get a bit better in 2011 but real improvement would come only in 2012.

But he warned that would depend on many factors. "There must be economic growth of three or four per cent before there will be positive movement in the labour market," he noted.

Rapid improvement, however, was out of the question. "In such a crisis, one must be humble," he said.

Meanwhile, Labour Chamber (AK) President Herbert Tumpel has called on the government to help people over fifty get jobs as new figures showed the unemployment rate among older workers soaring by almost ten per cent.

Tumpel said "stabilising measures in the health sector and new work-time models" for over-50s were needed to ensure people without a job would find their way into the labour market more quickly.

The AK chief�s appeal came as the Austrian Labour Market Service (AMS) announced there had been a 7.3 per cent year on year rise in unemployment last month with the biggest jump registered among people aged 50 and older - 9.9 per cent to 65,059.

AMS officials said 323,651 people living in Austria, or 8.9 per cent, had been without a job in January, up from 301,529, or 0.7 per cent, in the same month last year.

They added 79,041 people � a year on year increase of 47.7 per cent � without a job had taken re-education courses offered by the body last month. These people are not considered as unemployed in the Austrian labour market statistics system.

Austrian Times

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