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VIENNA. More than half a million Austrians are currently registered as unemployed with the Public Employment Service (AMS). Almost the same number of people currently have a part-time job: their number has increased again by 18,600 to 458,993 people from the previous week. “In times of crisis, our clear objective is to secure jobs through reduced hours, and we are successful,” Labor Minister Martin Kocher said yesterday at a press conference with Finance Minister Gernot Blümel. , and the Minister of Economy, Margarete Schramböck. “For the recovery afterward, it will be crucial that we now use the time well to continue training and qualifications,” Kocher said.
So far, companies have requested € 10.4 billion in short-time work benefits from Corona, and the AMS has paid € 5.8 billion. Yesterday, the government announced that it would increase the budget for part-time work from five to seven billion euros.
Until now, tourism and catering, business enterprises, transportation companies, and the body-related service professions have been hit hardest by the crown crisis. “In Austria we are fighting the economic consequences of the pandemic with the largest aid package within the EU for companies to overcome this crisis in the best possible way and to preserve as many jobs as possible,” said the minister. of Finance Blümel. He referred to a study by the Institute of Higher Studies (IHS), according to which no other EU country had taken measures with a higher deficit to save health, jobs and locations than Austria. According to the Finance Ministry, around € 31 billion has been paid or legally paid in Austria through a wide variety of crown aid.
Investment bonus until February 28
So far, around 85,000 applications have been submitted for the Corona investment bond. According to the Minister of Economy, Schramböck, the volume of subsidies is 2,800 million euros. The projects are expected to generate an investment volume of 30,000 million euros. Half of all requests were made in the areas of digitization and sustainability. Applications can be submitted until February 28.
