Bad news for the economic location continues to pour in. Sebastian Schlund, head of Industrial Engineering at TU Wien and managing director of Fraunhofer Austria, warns today of a significant deterioration in the business situation and competitiveness of the Austrian industry. According to a survey of over 100 executives, the main problems include high inflation and rising labor costs, he announced on Tuesday.
Only 36 percent of the surveyed companies rated their competitiveness as “good” or “very good.” “This makes relocating production abroad increasingly attractive due to the high cost and competitive pressures on companies,” said Sabine Hesse, managing director of the Association of Metal Technology Industry. For Schlund, it is clear: “It is time to set the course for tomorrow. If both industry and politics, as well as science, take action, we can still avert what the grim forecasts predict.”
Bad news also comes from Statistics Austria. Sales in the manufacturing sector fell by 0.1 percent in September 2024 compared to the previous year. The number of hours worked decreased by 1.2 percent during the same period, and the employment index dropped by 0.6 percent. The transport volume of Austrian companies in global road freight traffic declined by 3.0 percent in the third quarter of 2024. The statisticians conclude: “The economy in the manufacturing sector remains weak at the end of the third quarter of 2024.”