Jobs & Employment

In 2006, AREA m styria included nearly 172,000 residents.  Leoben is the most populous district with its 65,861 inhabitants, followed by the districts of Bruck/Mur with 64,008 and Mürzzuschlag with 41,826 people.

Taking a close look at the economic structure of the region has shown that 49.8% of the employed population is to be found in the secondary sector, which includes mining, the manufacturing of material goods, energy and water supply as well as the building and construction industries.  48.8% of the employed population is in the tertiary sector taking in trade and storage, lodging and restaurants, traffic and communication, banking and insurance, services for businesses, public administration, education, health and other service facilities.  A mere 1.4% is employed in the primary sector in agriculture and forestry. The make-up of this economic structure makes it clear that the AREA m styria is a region of substantial industrial nature. 

The social structure of those employed here is reflected first of all in the amount of women included in the total number of employees.  In the year 2005 there were 13,401 women working in the AREA m styria region, an amount equivalent to 34.7% of the population.  Of the 38,649 employees in the region there were 5,823 youths working (15.1%) and 6,702 older people employed (17.3%).  

The percentage of highly qualified employees in the AREA m styria was 14.6%.  In the year 2005 those with medium qualifications in the labor force of the region, (those whose highest level of education completed was a grammar school with general qualification for university entrance, professional school without general qualification for university entrance, a successfully completed apprenticeship or a master's certificate) amounted to 60.7%.  The amount of lower qualified workers (those having only completed the compulsory level of education or those with no training whatsoever) was 24.7% in the year 2005.  

In terms of unemployment, Austria is at the European top level with 5.2%.  The AREA m styria with its 4.2% boasts a level below the total Austrian figures. 

Austria is considered to be one of those countries having a low number of strikes, topping the European list with 1 strike/year per 1,000 workers, followed by Luxembourg (1.13 days/yr per 1,000 workers) and Lithuania (2.35 days/yr per 1,000 workers).  

Something which can be viewed as immensely positive is the development of labor costs over the past five years.  In this respect, Austria with its approx. 11% exhibits the lowest increase after Germany, while the new EU member states, with the exception of Malta, have all displayed increases of 25% to more than 60%.  When considering the actual hours worked, it can be shown that Austria, along with Great Britain, is at the top in Europe with its 42.4 hours per week.  Austria is ranked fifth with 1,916 actual hours worked per year.