Carinthian firms plan more hiring as sentiment improves

Business and industrial sentiment in Carinthia has improved slightly from last year, and companies are planning more new hires, ORF reported, citing the latest survey by the Chamber of Labour. Investments are not yet being withdrawn from the Austrian state.

The survey questioned works council representatives and has been conducted by the chamber for 45 years. The shortage of skilled workers remains a problem, particularly in construction, transport and storage, said Günther Goach, president of the Carinthian Chamber of Labour. He said the economic trend broadly matched Austria’s overall development, though Carinthia might be doing slightly better.

Goach said about 93,000 people in Carinthia would retire over the next decade, while the state has 72,000 residents under the age of 15. He said Carinthia needed to become more attractive to qualified migrants to address the gap.

The recession has not yet fully ended, said Eric Kirschner of research organisation Joanneum Research, though the economy is gradually emerging from its downturn. He pointed to continued uncertainty, including the war in Iran, high energy and gas prices, and Donald Trump.

Inflation has fallen from its levels in 2021 and 2022 but remains high at 3.6%, Kirschner said. He also noted that over the past 45 years Carinthia had developed from a state focused solely on tourism into a high-tech location.