Today in Austria: A roundup of the latest news on Monday
Austria faces a shortage of workers, Greens lose ground in EU election race, and other news from around Austria on Monday.
Austria sees skilled labour shortage
There are currently staffing shortages across several industries in Austria, from car mechanics to doctors, der Standard reported.
A car mechanic is one of the jobs on Austria's list of occupations with far more vacancies than applicants.
For example, 2,700 vehicle mechanic jobs are currently advertised across the country on the public employment service AMS's "All Jobs" platform.
But this isn't the only industry with staffing shortages. Reports of a shortage of workers have been circulating in the media since the end of the pandemic.
Vienna's Social Affairs City Councillor Peter Hacker recently warned there will be a shortage of 7,000 doctors across Austria by 2035 because too few are being trained.
The capital city will also see a shortage of around 5,000 bus drivers in the next five years because many are retiring.
The list of nationwide occupations facing a shortage now includes 110 jobs – five times more than ten years ago.
The head of Austria's Federal Economic Chamber, Harald Mahrer, predicts that by 2040, the country will face a shortage of 360,000 workers.
Greens lose support in EU poll after Schilling furore
Current opinion polls show that the Green Party has lost some ground after the turbulence surrounding its top European Parliament election candidate, Lena Schilling, who has been accused of spreading false rumours, der Standard reported.
According to a survey carried out by Peter Hajek for the channels ATV and Puls 24, far-right FPÖ remained in front with 30 percent of the vote, while Schilling secured 10 percent of the vote—a drop of two percentage points from last November.
Although this wasn't a "free fall", Hayek said the data remained "very volatile".
The centre-left SPÖ and centre-right ÖVP each garnered 23 percent of the vote (1 percent lower and unchanged, respectively) in the poll while the KPÖ's share was unchanged from November at 3 percent.
Support for Tunisia's border police sparks debate on Austria's role
After reports of the brutal crackdown on refugees in EU partner countries in North Africa, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is calling for clarification on Austria's possible involvement, ORF reported.
As Austria is co-financing a training centre for the Tunisian border police, it must be investigated whether this "supports a practice that is illegal under international law," said Marcus Bachmann, humanitarian advisor at MSF Austria, in an interview with the APA.
The aid organisation has been observing an increase in "enormous, systematic violence" at all EU external borders for some time. "We are witnessing how people die," emphasised Bachmann, who was not surprised by reports published by the investigative editorial team Lighthouse Reports earlier this week.
The Lighthouse research proved the systematic, violent arrest of refugees in the North African states of Tunisia, Morocco and Mauritania.
Students most likely to drop out of law degree but finish medicine
Anyone who passes the entrance test and enrols in medicine at a public university in Austria will most likely complete their studies, according to a new analysis by Statistics Austria.
After ten years, 86 percent of medical degrees in Austria are completed, with just under 11 percent dropped out or interrupting their studies.
But it's a different picture for those studying law, which saw the lowest completion rates out of all subjects.
As many as 69 percent of those studying law degrees had dropped out or interrupted their studies after ten years, with only 26 percent completing their degree within that time frame.
According to the study, things are not looking much better for law degree programmes started in 2012/13. In 2021/22, only a third had completed their studies successfully after ten years and 56 percent had dropped out or interrupted their studies.
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Austria sees skilled labour shortage
There are currently staffing shortages across several industries in Austria, from car mechanics to doctors, der Standard reported.
A car mechanic is one of the jobs on Austria's list of occupations with far more vacancies than applicants.
For example, 2,700 vehicle mechanic jobs are currently advertised across the country on the public employment service AMS's "All Jobs" platform.
But this isn't the only industry with staffing shortages. Reports of a shortage of workers have been circulating in the media since the end of the pandemic.
Vienna's Social Affairs City Councillor Peter Hacker recently warned there will be a shortage of 7,000 doctors across Austria by 2035 because too few are being trained.
The capital city will also see a shortage of around 5,000 bus drivers in the next five years because many are retiring.
The list of nationwide occupations facing a shortage now includes 110 jobs – five times more than ten years ago.
The head of Austria's Federal Economic Chamber, Harald Mahrer, predicts that by 2040, the country will face a shortage of 360,000 workers.
Greens lose support in EU poll after Schilling furore
Current opinion polls show that the Green Party has lost some ground after the turbulence surrounding its top European Parliament election candidate, Lena Schilling, who has been accused of spreading false rumours, der Standard reported.
According to a survey carried out by Peter Hajek for the channels ATV and Puls 24, far-right FPÖ remained in front with 30 percent of the vote, while Schilling secured 10 percent of the vote—a drop of two percentage points from last November.
Although this wasn't a "free fall", Hayek said the data remained "very volatile".
The centre-left SPÖ and centre-right ÖVP each garnered 23 percent of the vote (1 percent lower and unchanged, respectively) in the poll while the KPÖ's share was unchanged from November at 3 percent.
Support for Tunisia's border police sparks debate on Austria's role
After reports of the brutal crackdown on refugees in EU partner countries in North Africa, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is calling for clarification on Austria's possible involvement, ORF reported.
As Austria is co-financing a training centre for the Tunisian border police, it must be investigated whether this "supports a practice that is illegal under international law," said Marcus Bachmann, humanitarian advisor at MSF Austria, in an interview with the APA.
The aid organisation has been observing an increase in "enormous, systematic violence" at all EU external borders for some time. "We are witnessing how people die," emphasised Bachmann, who was not surprised by reports published by the investigative editorial team Lighthouse Reports earlier this week.
The Lighthouse research proved the systematic, violent arrest of refugees in the North African states of Tunisia, Morocco and Mauritania.
Students most likely to drop out of law degree but finish medicine
Anyone who passes the entrance test and enrols in medicine at a public university in Austria will most likely complete their studies, according to a new analysis by Statistics Austria.
After ten years, 86 percent of medical degrees in Austria are completed, with just under 11 percent dropped out or interrupting their studies.
But it's a different picture for those studying law, which saw the lowest completion rates out of all subjects.
As many as 69 percent of those studying law degrees had dropped out or interrupted their studies after ten years, with only 26 percent completing their degree within that time frame.
According to the study, things are not looking much better for law degree programmes started in 2012/13. In 2021/22, only a third had completed their studies successfully after ten years and 56 percent had dropped out or interrupted their studies.
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