According to the Vienna Economic Barometer, which surveys 310 Viennese companies about their economic situation every six months, the assessments of the past few months are still slightly negative, but they have again recorded a small increase. “The expectations of the last survey were exceeded for almost all indicators and Viennese entrepreneurs are expecting increases for all indicators except domestic sales in the coming year,” says Ruck. “These developments and, above all, the positive outlook give rise to hopes of a stabilization of the Viennese economic situation.” Overall, expectations are back in the positive range.
According to the survey, entrepreneurs are expecting a steep upturn in the overall economic environment, starting from a low level. Although expectations are still negative on balance, growing expectations give hope for a gradual stabilization of the situation. “Both the developments in the order situation and those in total sales suggest that the economic situation is heading for an improvement,” said Ruck. Foreign demand in particular is developing much more positively than recently.
The Vienna labor market is proving robust. “The declining employment forecast from the last survey has clearly not come true – Viennese companies have increased their workforce again,” says Ruck. In the future, increased demand for labor is expected, but growth is likely to slow somewhat.
Investment activity has recently been on a steep upward trend. However, hardly any Viennese companies have reported any positive developments in terms of their competitive price position compared to foreign competitors. 90 percent of those surveyed stated that a reduction in non-wage labor costs would be a sensible measure for improving the competitiveness of the domestic business location. Tax relief and simplified administration are also mentioned as important measures.
With 17 percent of respondents expecting a deterioration for their company in the next 12 months, 58 percent expecting a constant order situation and a quarter of companies expecting better-filled order books, Vienna’s companies are on balance in positive territory for the first time in two years.