Why the Chamber of Commerce is cutting every fourth job

The dismantling should be as socially acceptable as possible

Specifically, it concerns a quarter of the 800 house employees (full-time equivalent). Federal Chamber in Vienna-Wieden. Apprentices and trainees are not affected. This also applies to employees of subsidiaries and, above all, of the legally independent specialist associations.

According to their statements, the WKÖ wants to make the dismantling plan socially acceptable and the Employees provide the best possible support during this phase. “The aim is to consistently concentrate resources on those tasks that directly contribute to the benefit of the member companies and strengthen the effectiveness of the organization.”

Schultz: The goal is a “modern, powerful representation of interests”

As reported, the already announced savings of 100 million euros annually for companies will mainly come from the Chamber levy 2 (KU2). The KU2 is calculated based on the number of employees in a company. This didn’t go far enough for the Freedom Party, Social Democrats, Greens and Liberals in the chamber, even if there was some talk of a step in the right direction. Schultz herself is the head of the ÖVP Economic Associationwho rules absolutely in the chamber.

“The goal is a modern, powerful representation of interests that is consistently oriented towards the requirements of the companies,” said Schultz on Tuesday. “We are reducing duplication, inefficiencies and confusion in the organization.” In the course of the Repositioning Structures would be simplified, services would be bundled or discontinued or integrated elsewhere.

The state chambers are also putting money into savings

Most recently, Schultz has… General Secretariat the Chamber of Entrepreneurs two out of three deputy positions of Secretary General Jochen Danninger deleted. However, the two affected remain active in the chamber with other activities. Eva-Maria Liebmann moves to Styria Chamber of Commerce. Thomas Spann takes over the role of head of transformation of the WKÖ for the reorganization phase. In addition, the further training platform wise up closed and partly ins WIFI integrated, Schultz recalled on Tuesday.

The tension should be the current one Reform measures advance. It should act as a central interface to the reform efforts of the state chambers and at the same time pay particular attention to the realignment of the WKÖ’s communication activities. As is well known, the nine state chambers also have to save money.

Restructuring is to be implemented by the end of 2027

Schultz plans are part of the analysis and the resulting target values KPMG. The management consultant was appointed by the WKÖ itself and has been supporting it in its reform process since the beginning of the year and until the end of 2027. The realignment is based on a comprehensive examination of the existing structures, processes and tasks as well as external comparison values ​​with similar organizational structures. This ensures that the reform takes place on a well-founded and comprehensible basis. The goal is that Restructuring to be implemented by the end of 2027.

WKÖ is still waiting for the results of the audit

On the result of the examination by the Court of Auditors (RH) Meanwhile, maintenance continues. “We are already well advanced,” said a spokesman recently when asked by the APA.

After her predecessor’s early retirement Harald Mahrer Last fall and her originally interim and permanent appointment as WKÖ president since January, Schultz quickly announced extensive reforms. These have been and are being demanded by many parties and the parliamentary groups in the Economic Parliament.

The further reform steps of the entire economic chamber organizations will then be the focus Economic Parliament End of June.