CMNT_TITLE

The Committee notes the Government’s report for the period ending May 2009, including replies to its 2008 direct request, the Second National Reform Programme for Growth and Employment, the Economic Report Austria 2009 as well as current labour market statistics.

Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention. Employment trends and active labour market measures. The Committee notes that the goal of full employment had been reached in August 2008, when the unemployment rate stood at 3.3 per cent. The Government states that as a result of the global financial and economic crisis, since autumn 2008, the situation of the Austrian labour market had deteriorated and unemployment rose by 30 percentage points as compared to autumn 2008. According to data available from the OECD, this rate reached 4.9 per cent in the fourth quarter 2009 after having peaked at 5.1 per cent in that year’s third quarter. This drop of the employment rate, the first for seven years, mostly affected young persons, men and foreigners working in manufacturing and for temporary work agencies. The Government remains committed to again achieve full employment and has introduced a package of measures to increase the employment rate beyond the EU’s targets for 2010. Having reached the overall EU quantitative goal of 70 per cent in 2008, the employment rate stood at 72.1 per cent. Having achieved the goal of 60 per cent as early as 2001, the female employment rate in 2008 was 65.8 per cent. The Government is further aware that as before, the better integration of older workers in the labour market, which has reached 41 per cent in 2008, continues to be a key in order to reach the Stockholm target of 50 per cent. The Committee recalls that increasing the participation and employment rates of older workers is a crucial issue common to advanced economies in light of the ageing and shrinking of their working age population.

The Committee notes that in light of the ongoing effects of the global economic crisis, the measures undertaken by the Government to stimulate the economy and create jobs resulted in economic packages and tax breaks amounting to €5.7 billion – 2 per cent of the Austrian GDP. Furthermore, the budget for active labour market policies has been increased by almost half; the total in 2009 was €1.3 billion. Legislative measures comprise the Employment Promotion Act 2009, which focuses on expansion of short-time work, training and facilitating the establishment of labour foundations. The “Early Intervention Strategy” remains the Government’s main tool to improve the integration of young and older persons in the labour market. The employment campaign for persons with disabilities will be continued and supported with additional resources to facilitate their entry into the labour market. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide in its next report information on the situation, level and trends of employment, unemployment and underemployment, both in the aggregate and as they affect particular categories of workers, especially with regard to young persons and workers with disabilities.

Article 3. Consultation with social partners. The Committee notes that the social partners’ proposals were taken into consideration by the Government. This led to a reform of the Youth Employment Package 2008 to include on-the-job and external training and the implementation of a training guarantee for young persons below the age of 18. In this regard the Committee notes with interest that the social partners’ document “Labour Market – Future 2010” would be integrated into the 24 integrated guidelines for growth and employment of the National Reform Programme. The Committee invites the Government to also include in its next report updated information on the participation of the social partners in the design and implementation of other active employment market measures as required by the Convention.