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Vienna's Labour Market Service (AMS) abused daily by the city's unemployed

The Local Austria
The Local Austria - [email protected]
Vienna's Labour Market Service (AMS) abused daily by the city's unemployed
Photo: Günta/Wikimedia

Employees of Vienna's Labour Market Service (AMS) have reported that abuse and assault have become a daily occurence in their line of work. In 2016 alone, there were 750 individual reports of verbal assault experienced via their hotline or in person at one of the many AMS locations around the city.

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Statistically this rounds out to about three attacks per day, which allegedly tend to be brought on by missed appointments or sparked by the suspension of unemployment benefits. Yet, despite everything from rude e-mails to all-out bomb threats, those behind this public amenity still persist in their mission to facilitate unemployed individuals in finding their way back into the workforce. 
 
According to a recent interview with Radio Wien, AMS chief Petra Draxl stated, "it's our duty to calm people down and to deescalate, it goes with the territory." AMS employees are even specifically trained for these types of situations. 
 
The organization works closely with the police, but only calls them in extreme cases. Any perpetrators who commit more than one offense are simply banned. Draxl says, "we've been operating under the same concept for years. There are security personnel at each of our locations, in all regional branch offices. We have a very sophisticated safety design."
 
However, attempts at theft and burglary are still on the rise. On this note, Draxl stated, "it does bear repeating that there is nothing to steal. There is no cash to be found here [and] as it turned out, there was never really anything taken."

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