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06. 02. 12. - 15:00

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06. 02. 12. - 15:00

AMS boss defends hesitant job seekers

Labour Market Service (AMS) chief Johannes Kopf has taken a stand for unemployed people who refuse taking the first new job offer.

Kopf told Die Presse on Saturday: "If your house collapses, you can relocate to a new flat on the same day. But you won’t because you prefer checking the market first. You may stay in a hotel or with friends for some time. It’s the same with the search for a job. You don’t take the next best offer but take a look around beforehand."

Speaking about his institution’s education and training courses, Kopf explained that integrating jobless people into the labour market could often take up to two years. He said some people must learn again to show up regularly and perform. The AMS head also claimed that the number of people unwilling to work was "lower than you might assume".

Kopf stressed that fighting the abuse of social benefits was part of the AMS’ agenda. He said applying force and carrying out coercive measures were options the authority often opted for. "Such steps also have an important social function because we are telling people this way that they must stop muddling through. We warn them that such behaviour had effects on their future professional life and pension," he said speaking to Die Presse.

The AMS director admitted that the high number of Austrians opting for retirement before the regular age of 65 (men) or 60 (women) had a positive impact on the domestic employment rate. Austria did best in fighting joblessness in the European Union (EU) last month. The country had an unemployment rate of 4.1 per cent, according to Eurostat research. This was an increase of 0.1 per cent compared to December 2011.

Statistics also show that just 42.4 per cent of Austrians aged between 55 and 65 have a job. Sweden tops the EU’s ranking in this concern at 70.5 per cent followed by Germany (57.7 per cent) and Denmark (57.6 per cent). Economically challenged Hungary is at the bottom of the comparative chart with 34.4 per cent.

Kopf said AMS’ annual budget would be 981 million Euros in the coming years with no improvement until 2015 – despite warnings from soaring unemployment in Austria. The AMS head said on Saturday the domestic labour market could cope with the predicted rise in joblessness of between 10,000 and 15,000 people in 2012.

The EU’s state and government leaders decided last week to pump 82 billion Euros in initiatives fighting unemployment among people younger than 25. Especially programmes carried out in countries with a youth jobless rate of 30 per cent and more would benefit from the windfall, according to EU decision-makers. Spain (48.7 per cent) and Greece (47.2 per cent) struggled the most in fighting unemployment among people aged 25 and below last month.

The countries’ continuing fight against rising debts and unemployment worsens the reputation and stability of the Euro, according to many economists. A rising number of economic experts speak out in favour of a Greek exit of the Eurozone. Polls show that young Austrians remain optimistic about the currency’s future despite the turmoil on the global financial markets and fears that the economic climate in Europe may worsen this year. Ninety-one per cent of Austrians aged between 15 and 29 said the Euro would survive.

Austrian Times

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