WKO job cuts: “Uncertainty is a human catastrophe for employees”

In the next year and a half, one in four jobs there will be eliminated. Of the current 800 positions in the Federal Chamber in Vienna-Wieden, only 600 will be left at the end of 2027. The works councils were informed in advance on Monday and a works meeting took place at 9 a.m.

Months of uncertainty are putting a strain on the workforce

“We have not been involved in the entire reform process until now,” says Andreas Taust, chairman of the group works council of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce (WKÖ), in an interview with KURIER following the meeting. A statement that makes you sit up and take notice: While the workforce reductions have already been communicated to the outside world, the employee representatives do not know the affected departments or specific names. “We know that, but we don’t know who,” said the works council chairman. He described this uncertainty as a “human catastrophe” for the employees.

The works council only hopes to receive the framework conditions of the social plan next Monday. This was apparently drawn up without the involvement of employee representatives. “As a works council, we can’t legally assess everything because we don’t know all the key data yet,” Taust criticizes the approach.

Clarity in August at the earliest

Due to legal deadlines – social plan negotiations and standstill periods due to the AMS notification – the workforce will not find out who is actually affected until August at the earliest. Until then, there will be uncertainty in an organization that, as the representative of the interests of the Austrian economy, is itself under massive pressure to make savings.

Retirements are not enough

The hope of cushioning the job losses through natural fluctuation does not come true. “We don’t have that many retirements that could cover this in the next two or three years,” Taust explains. In addition, some retirements would have to be filled – “due to the technical expertise and the representation of interests, which is simply our legal mandate.”

Part of a larger savings package

The staff cuts at the WKÖ are part of an overall savings package of 100 million euros for the entire organization. Taust could not or did not want to quantify the specific amount that should be saved in personnel. “I don’t know any general conditions,” he emphasized several times.

12,000 officials, 5,500 employees

Martha Schultz’s austerity plans were met with a lot of goodwill from the opposition on Wednesday. Matthias Krenn, head of the Freedom Party in the Chamber of Commerce, said in the Ö1 “Morgenjournal” that the reduction in employees was “definitely appropriate”. “Without this, we can’t do it if we want to relieve the members’ burden and concentrate on core tasks in the future.”

However, for the Green Party leader, Sabine Jungwirth, that is not the end of it. Among other things, she called for “massive streamlining by merging the tenfold structures of the specialist organizations and industry committees”. A cost reduction potential of 175 million euros was identified.

The WKÖ has total income of over 1.3 billion euros across Austria, more than 1,000 committees, over 12,000 officials and more than 5,500 employees to date.

“Look at the entire organization”

“Anyone who speaks of a leaner and more efficient Chamber of Commerce must look at the entire organization,” demands UNOS federal spokesman Michael Bernhard. “Especially in the state chambers, there are enough duplicate structures and administrative levels where a consistent reduction in staff would be possible and necessary.” So the state chambers are now required to “also save every fourth job in a socially acceptable way by the end of 2027”.

Green Party spokeswoman Jungwirth also reminded that the previously announced savings of 100 million euros for companies are primarily planned through the Chamber levy 2 (KU2) and would therefore not relieve the burden on one-person businesses. The KU2 is calculated according to employees. EPU represented 95 percent of the WKÖ compulsory member companies.