When Employment is Put on Hold – Temporary Layoffs in Austria

Temporary layoffs – the suspension of employment relationships with subsequent reemployment by the same employer after a period of unemployment – still affect over 10 percent of all new jobs in Austria, despite a downward trend since the mid-2010s. They are particularly common in the construction industry, tourism and temporary agency work, but are used across all sectors to cushion seasonal and other fluctuations in labour demand. Men, persons of middle and older working age, blue-collar workers, low- or medium-skilled workers as well as persons from the traditional guest worker countries are disproportionately affected. Temporary layoffs cost the unemployment insurance system between 600 and 700 million € annually, including social security contributions paid by the Public Employment Service Austria (PES), and contribute around 1 percentage point to the unemployment rate.