Tourism industry: More and more seasonal workers are not a solution

Just in time for the start of the season in the gastronomy and hotel industry, the groundhog greets: Employers are screaming "staff shortages" and the government can only think of the well-known, short-sighted solution: increasing the seasonal worker quota. In addition to the current 4,295, an additional 200 workers from abroad are to be added in the summer of 2024, as Economics Minister Martin Kocher announced in May.

Berend Tusch, head of the tourism department at the trade union vida, sharply criticizes this project: "This measure by the government is neither creative nor sustainable. We firmly reject regularly increasing the quota of seasonal workers from abroad and ignoring working conditions."

Enough workers in Austria

"With the increase in the seasonal worker quota, Labor Minister Kocher, together with State Secretary Kraus-Winkler, is primarily supporting the interests of the economy," said trade unionist Tusch. In Austria, there are enough job seekers and those who want to return to the tourism industry. He emphasizes that the labor market needs a balance of supply and demand. "The government and the employers' representatives should finally make the professions in tourism more attractive, instead of always relying on the increase in the Sainson quota. The work must be appreciated: it needs decent wages and stable working conditions, as well as measures to extend the season. This is the only way to keep workers from the respective region in the industry. It is not without reason that tourism is an industry from which workers are fleeing," says Tusch.