The job search is taking longer and longer

The AMS and the Ministry of Social Affairs announced the latest data for April on Monday and it shows that the increase in unemployment continues – plus 1.5 percent or 5,711 people out of 398,342 job seekers (including training participants). In particular, the duration of unemployment is becoming entrenched, which can be seen in the number of “long-term unemployed people”.

This refers to unemployed people who have been without a job for more than a year and who have had interruptions in unemployment (e.g. training, stays abroad, etc.) for longer than 62 days. Then the one-year period begins again.

Well, according to AMS statistics, long-term unemployment now affects 103,322 people, an increase of 12,151 people or 13.3 percent compared to the previous year. According to a statement from the Ministry of Social Affairs, the “continued rise in long-term unemployment is currently the biggest challenge in the Austrian labor market.”

The proportion of long-term unemployed people among all people registered as unemployed is already 32 percent, with older people (50+ years: 43 percent) and people with health-related restrictions (50 percent) being particularly affected.

AMS boss Johannes Kopf sees the reduction in non-wage labor costs as an important stimulus for competitiveness and employment, but criticizes the higher taxes for people over 60, as this further worsens their already difficult chances of being hired.

134 days on average

The unfortunate trend can also be seen in the average duration of unemployment across all age and occupational groups. Unemployed people in Austria need an average of 134 days or around four and a half months to find a job. That is ten days more compared to April 2025.

But there are also major gender differences. The current increase in unemployment is primarily a women’s problem. “While construction has seen falling unemployment figures and industrial unemployment has largely stabilized, unemployment in trade and in health and social services, i.e. in two areas in which women are predominantly employed, is still rising significantly,” says Kopf.

Accordingly, the number of women registered, including training participants, rose by 4.9 percent, while among men there was a decline of 1.6 percent.