Austria
- About Austria
- Working conditions
- Sectors and companies that are recruiting
- Applying for a job
- Major recruitment pointers
- Recruitment Resources and networks
1. About Austria
Austria, with its well-developed market economy and high standard of living, is closely tied to other EU economies, especially Germany’s. Its economy features a large service sector, a sound industrial sector, and a small, but highly developed agricultural sector. Following several years of solid foreign demand for Austrian exports and record employment growth, the international financial crisis and global economic downturn in 2008 led to a sharp but brief recession. Austrian GDP contracted 3.9% in 2009 but saw positive growth of about 2% in 2010.
Unemployment has not risen as steeply in Austria as elsewhere in Europe, partly because its government has subsidized reduced working hour schemes to allow companies to retain employees. Stabilization measures, stimulus spending, and an income tax reform pushed the budget deficit to 3.5% of GDP in 2009 and 4.7% in 2010, from only about 1.3% in 2008. The international financial crisis caused difficulties for Austria’s largest banks whose extensive operations in central, eastern, and southeastern Europe faced large losses. The government provided bank support – including in some instances, nationalization – to prevent insolvency and possible contagion. In the medium-term all large Austrian banks will need additional capital. Even after the global economic outlook improves, Austria will need to continue restructuring, emphasize knowledge-based sectors of the economy, and encourage greater labor flexibility and labor participation to offset growing unemployment and Austria’s aging population and low fertility rate.
Population: 8.2 million
GDP per inhabitant (2010): USD 40.400,-
Unemployment rate (09/10): 4.4%
2. Working conditions
Austria was ranked number-one in the World Competitiveness Report of 1999 for quality of life, providing high-performance infrastructure and rapidly falling telecommunications and energy costs. It also has one of the best records of price stability in the world. Corporate tax rates are one of the lowest among leading industrial nations.
There is a strong labor movement in Austria. The Austrian workforce is 3.7 million, 40 percent being females. About 45 percent of the total Austrian labor force belongs to the 14 unions that make up the Austrian Trade Union Federation. Membership in unions is voluntary, but all wage earners are required by law to join their respective chambers of labor. Guarantees in the Austrian constitution governing freedom of association cover the rights of workers to join unions and engage in union activities. The Austrian Trade Union Federation (OGB) comprises constituent unions with a total membership of about 1.5 million. Since 1945, the OGB has pursued a moderate, consensus-oriented wage policy, cooperating with industry, agriculture, and the government on a broad range of social and economic issues in what is known as Austria’s social partnership.
Compared to other EU member states, Austria has the third lowest unemployment rate, with only the Netherlands and Luxembourg providing better job opportunities. (The European Union’s average unemployment rate was 8.5 percent by the end of 2000.) In addition, Austria prides herself on having the lowest youth unemployment rate in Europe. In the past, both the federal government and the state governments spent billions of schillings to provide vocational training to those who left school at the end of compulsory education and to help others achieve secondary school qualifications. Now that more companies are willing to take on apprentices, the government has decided to restructure its vocational programs.
At a time of prosperity for the Austrian economy, however, the country received unexpectedly poor ratings from the Union of Industrial and Employers’ Confederations of Europe (UNICE). It sharply criticized Austria for underfunding research and development. The organization also pointed out that Austria had far too few highly trained information technology personnel. UNICE expected a shortage of 13,000 qualified information technology workers.
Read more: Information about Working conditions in Austria
Legal working hours : 40.0 hrs / week
Length of trial / notice period: One month.
Employment formalities: Austria joined the EU (European Union) in 1995 – therefore it is very easy for all EU-citizens to live and work in Austria. If you are not an EU-citizen, be prepared for a lot of paperwork and some bureaucratic hurdles during the process of getting a working and residence permit. The situation differs from country to country – but in general the rules and requirements have become stricter and the quota for foreigners coming to Austria has been lowered every year. If you are EU-citizen, you can just come to Austria and live and work here. Within three days of arrival you have to register at your local police station – a quick and easy process. This applies also for people from non-EU-countries. Be careful – if you are not an EU-citizen, all formalities have to be processed BEFORE you register with the police! This means, you will have to start and finish the process from your home country – there is no other way to do it.
The process for EU-citizens
You can come to Austria without visa or stay permit. You also don’t need a work permit. If you stay longer than three months, you have to apply for a special ID-card ( EWR-Lichtbildausweis), which includes a residence permit. If you do not have a job at this time, you will be granted a 6-month residence permit; with a job, you get a 5-year permit. Your only initial obligation is to register at a local police station or the district’s registration office within three days of arrival.
The process for non EU-citizens
The process for receiving full rights to stay and work in Austria includes several steps and depends on what you plan to do there. Please keep in mind, all visa applications have to be issued from outside Austria, before you travel.
There are several visa options for coming to Austria:
Class C visa – the Tourist Visa
This is the most common visa for visitors; it is issued for a three month stay and allows you to travel through all EU-countries that are part of the Schengen Area. The required documents for the class C visa are:
1 passport – size photo
Valid passport (minimum 6 months)
Travel ticket or booking confirmation
Confirmation of hotel booking or invitation
Proof of sufficient funds
Proof of health insurance for the duration of your stay
It is recommended to present a ‘visa support letter’ from an institution or company you know in Austria. Please note that you are not allowed to work in Austria with a class C or class D visa!
Class D visa
This is a visa especially for Austria. It is issued for a maximum 6-month stay. With the class D visa you can travel through other Schengen countries – but only for 5 days in order to reach Austria. You have to contact the Austrian consulate in your country of residence to acquire the visa.
The Schengen Convention
Austria is a signatory to the Schengen Convention, which includes the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden . If you have a visa issued by one of the Schengen countries, it is automatically valid for all other Schengen countries. Even you have a class C visa (tourist visa), you can visit other Schengen countries for a maximum of 90 days – which is a nice way of getting to know Europe!
Please take into account that regulations are subject to frequent change. Information can be obtained from Austrian embassies, consulates, immigration offices and the Austrian Ministry of Interior Affairs. These institutions are often overloaded with immigration requests. If your legal situation is complex consider hiring a lawyer or immigration expert to represent your interests.
3. Sectors that are recruiting
Biotechnology, human medicine and medical engineering are particularly booming in Austria. Green Jobs, knowledge-based sectors, telecommunications sector and organic food sector are also growing in Austria
4. Applying for a job
Application documents: A complete job application includes:
- Written job application
- CV (curriculum vitae)
- Passport photo
- Certifications from previous activities or/ and employers
- Certifications from further trainings or seminars
- The letter of application
If you apply for a job in Austria or for an Austrian firm, your application should be written in German. In your application you should convey why you are the best suited candidate for this job. However don’t get dragged away, stay to the facts and list your experiences and abilities. Your application should not be longer than one A4 page. Be clear and focus. Try to relate to the firm or even position you apply for. Use for example these words: „ Ich würde gerne in einem Unternehmen arbeiten, in dem ich meine Kenntnisse einsetzen kann und…“ You should try to gather all available information on the web about the company. At the end of your application letter put the date and your handwritten signature .
Advice regarding the CV: First of all start with your personal details (persönlichen Daten), if you have a good photo printer print your passport photo next to your personal details on the right side. The form of your CV (Lebenslauf) should be tabular, list your education and career path in chronological order. Name your experiences and abilities. Next is the special skills section (besondere Kenntnisse) like driving license, knowledge of languages, knowledge of data processing etc. There are special folders for the application papers, they look very professional and might give you an advantage when sending your application by mail. Still many firms prefer paper documents instead of pure email applications.
5. Major recruitment pointers
Business Etiquette/knowing how to behave during interviews: When the firm gets interested in you, you will get invited to an interview. Expect an interview in German language – so if you do not feel comfortable with your language abilities practive beforehand. Very important for the interview is punctuality, don’t be too late. Austrians appreciate punctuality. Be self confident and polite. There is an informal dresscode: Men should wear suits! Jeans are not suitable. You should appear properly dressed in accordance with the position you apply for. Mental preperation will help you to master the interview. Try to guess as many questions as you can and prepare your answers so that you can convey a good image of yourself. However – stay to the facts and represent yourself.
Languages you must be able to speak: German, English
Flagship training: International business schools in Austria:
- Marienanstalt
- Vienna Business School
- International Business College
Compensation&Benefits / Taxes: Collective bargaining agreements are main determinant of compensation levels and benefits packages. Most influential factor is therefore the economic and employment situation of the particular employer’s office or branch. Variable pay components traditionally account for only a small part of overall annual pay, although the share for senior management is rising.
Watch out for…
Traditional incentive compensation plans (used by most SMEs) fail to meet current strategic needs of employers. New plans are being introduced which are based on performance and/or have an emphasis on long term reward. Participation of the works council in determining an incentive compensation plan (such as bonuses or stock option plans) is mandatory if the plan is performance-related rather than based on purely subjective criteria.
Issues concerning stock options
No particular difficulties to note. Employee share plans are becoming increasingly common in large companies and particularly in public limited companies, although they remain rare in SMEs.
Issues concerning retirement benefits
Recent pension reforms have led to massive reductions in expected public pensions. This has greatly accelerated the trend towards individual pension plans, putting increasing emphasis on employers’ responsibilities for pension plans. However, there remain few tax incentives for employers to offer such plans.
6. Recruitment resources and networks
For young graduates, there are several training forms like internships and professional practices. For professionals there are (online) networks or associations, job databases, recruitment agencies or ads in newspapers.
Important business networking sites:
www.xing.com
www.facebook.com
www.twitter.com,
www.linkedIn.com
Best sites for jobs:
www.karriere.at,
www.jobpilot.at,
www.stepstone.at,
www.jobsearch.at ,
www.jobkralle.at
Where to network: For young graduates, there are several training forms like internships and professional practices. For professionals there are (online) networks or associations, job databases, recruitment agencies or ads in newspapers.
