Eurofound's EU PolicyWatch collates information on the responses of government and social partners to the COVID-19 crisis, the war in Ukraine, rising inflation, as well as gathering examples of company practices aimed at mitigating the social and economic impacts.
| Country | Austria , applies nationwide |
| Time period | Open ended, started on 01 March 2015 |
| Context | Green Transition, Restructuring Support Instruments |
| Type | Other initiatives or policies |
| Category |
Ensuring business continuity and support for essential services
– Smoothing frictions or reallocation of workers |
| Author | Bernadette Allinger (Forba) and Eurofound |
| Measure added | 23 June 2022 (updated 18 October 2024) |
The instrument structures occupations in three levels in accordance to skills and education required for them.
In this system, it covers 15 occupational fields on the first level, 93 occupational groups on the second level and subordinated occupational groups on the third level.
The platform also rises public attention on green jobs and environment sustainability at workplace.
The job barometer (previously qualification barometer) is an extensive online information system on qualification trends. The barometer compiles and organises information on current and future qualification requirements and all information is made publicly available through the internet. It involves the secondary analyses of statistical data provided by the Main Association of Austrian Social Insurance Funds Hauptverband der Sozialversicherungsträger , Statistik Austria and the Public Employment Service AMS , as well as studies on the development of qualification requirements and the labour market. Additionally, job advertisements in Austria are analysed (until 2015, its main sources were daily and weekly print media, but since 2016 the barometer also relies on online job advertisements using the platform 'jobfeed' .
Moreover, interviews are held with experts in different occupational areas, such as HR managers, heads of education and training organisations and representatives of professional and trade associations to gain deeper knowledge on future trends and requirements in qualifications.
Funding is provided via the public employment service (Arbeitsmarktservice, AMS). It is run by the public employment service (AMS) together with two other bodies, see details under 'other' for further information.
The qualification barometer is run by the public employment service (AMS), the consultancy 3s Unternehmensberatung and the Federal Economic Chambers (WKO) subsidiary 'Institute for Research on Qualifications and Training of the Austrian Economy' (IBW).
Examples:
As of May 2019, the latest date available on the website provides predictions for the total number of available jobs in 2019. For example, the barometer predicts 62,481 jobs for the building and woodwork sector, or 107,220 jobs in trade and logistics.
In May 2020, the website has stated that it is not possible to make reliable predictions of further trends and developments for the qualification barometer because of COVID-19. While there are no predictions, the site still provides numbers on the current vacancies. As an example: as of November 2020, with 1,987 vacancies, the largest number of jobs is available in the field of healthcare.
The following updates to this measure have been made after it came into effect.
| 03 October 2024 |
The qualification barometer was transferred to the job barometer. This enhanced tool uses AI and machine learning to analyse job advertisements and company data. This generates daily updated data on the demand for specific professions and qualifications. With the integration of modern algorithms and AI technologies, the new barometer is more interactive and adaptable. It can adapt quickly to changes in the labour market and therefore offers more accurate predictions. The job barometer is strongly focused on user-friendliness. |
The job barometer (previously qualification barometer) is the only online information tool on qualification trends in Austria. Information is available on qualification levels, professions, and regions.
The tool provides comprehensive, extensive and current information on developments within the labour market and subsequent demand for specific qualifications. It can be used to forecast future developments in the labour market and possible changes in demands for skills.
As with other predictive tools, the qualification barometer might capture developments of short-term nature that can lead to distortions that may result in some trends being given too much significance.
| Workers | Businesses | Citizens |
|---|---|---|
|
Employees in standard employment
|
Applies to all businesses | Does not apply to citizens |
| Actors | Funding |
|---|---|
|
National government
Public employment service |
National funds
|
Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:
| Trade unions | Employers' organisations | |
|---|---|---|
| Role | Unknown | Unknown |
| Form | Not applicable | Not applicable |
Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:
Unknown
Unknown
Citation
Eurofound (2022), JobBarometer, measure AT-2015-10/2522 (measures in Austria), EU PolicyWatch, Dublin, https://static.eurofound.europa.eu/covid19db/cases/AT-2015-10_2522.html
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Disclaimer: This information has not been subject to the full Eurofound evaluation, editorial and publication process.