The Consequences of Temporary Layoffs on the Longer-term Employment Integration and Income of the Affected Workers

Companies use various instruments to respond flexibly and cost-effectively to fluctuations in their labour demand. One strategy that has been largely neglected in empirical research and political discussion is the temporary termination of employment ("layoff") and the subsequent rehiring ("recall") of employees by the same employer, also known as "temporary layoffs". In times of underutilised capacities, companies terminate the employment contracts of some of their staff or seek to terminate them by mutual agreement in order to rehire the same people when the order situation improves. This project investigates the causal consequences of this personnel adjustment strategy for the longer-term employment careers of the affected workers in Austria.