Austria’s economic pressures and a shortage of skilled workers have prompted business leaders and conservatives to urge people to put in longer hours. Yet nearly a third of the workforce is now part-time, and the average working week is expected to shrink to just 28.5 hours by 2024. Moralising about a so-called "part-time lifestyle" – even as many firms benefit from it – is proving far from popular, however.
Is the rate of part-time work too high in Austria? Does it pose a threat to the welfare state and the country’s prosperity? At the beginning of August, Conservative economy minister Wolfgang Hattmannsdorfer, of the Austrian People’s Party, opened a long-running debate with these words. Hattmannsdorfer wants to promote full-time work and criticises the “part-time lifestyle”, taking aim at those who have no children or dependants and work less due to “lifestyle choice”. One of his proposals...
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Article authors
Thomas Schnee
Freelance