Vorarlberg wants to focus on qualification – Vorarlberg economy –

“The issue of skilled workers has not disappeared,” Governor Markus Wallner (ÖVP) declared on Thursday at a joint press conference with Labor Minister Martin Kocher (ÖVP) in Bregenz. Vorarlberg has already coped well with structural change after the textile crisis, Kocher said.

After the end of the pandemic there will be a structural change, for example in the direction of environmental technology, said the Minister of Labor. Qualification measures allow people to stay in their traditional work area or find work in a new career field.

Wallner emphasized that in Vorarlberg currently more than 3,000 people are undergoing a qualification measure. The tourism and gastronomy sectors are particularly affected by the current situation and are concerned about the loss of employees. “In the end we opened and we have very few employees,” Wallner said. Therefore, the rating is considered important. Kocher emphasized that the unemployed in tourism are not about getting better, but about improving their skills.

Although Vorarlberg currently has more than 15,000 unemployed, an increase of more than 56 percent compared to the previous year, Wallner saw “positive signs”. The initial steps would have brought a noticeable improvement, for example, in retail. For the 62,000 Vorarlberg residents who had to make use of short-time work, 300 million euros flowed to Vorarlberg. Now, 24,000 people are still registered for part-time jobs. Kocher described short-time work as a “very good instrument” to overcome the months of crisis, but from July there will have to be a new model of reduced-time work.

Vorarlberg’s economic adviser Marco Tittler (ÖVP) called the initial steps planned in Vorarlberg “unavoidable”. Half of the increase in unemployment figures can be traced to the gastronomy and tourism sectors. It had to be ensured that no higher base unemployment remained after the crisis. Also, there should be no losers in progress and no “lost generation.” The aim is to offer young people even more precise offers regarding an apprenticeship.

Both Wallner and Tittler thanked the federal government and AMS for € 59 million, which is available this year in Vorarlberg for labor market policy activities, “more than ever”. There is a commitment to maintain this level for years to come so that we can “establish sustainable programs,” Tittler said.