The demand by Georg Knill, president of the Federation of Austrian Industries (IV), to raise the retirement age to 70 stirred controversy on Thursday. Criticism came from the SPÖ-aligned Pensioners’ Association (PVÖ), the union, the FPÖ, and the Greens. “Anyone calling now for an increase in the statutory retirement age is pure polemics and creates uncertainty,” said interim PVÖ president Helmut Bieler.

Knill had stated in the ZIB2 the day before, after repeated questioning: “We can certainly move toward 70.” This had recently been agreed by consensus in Denmark—“why should it be any different in Austria?” In any case, he said, an “honest discussion” is needed; currently, it is denied that the system is not secure. What is needed is a government “that implements reforms honestly and courageously,” Knill added.

Jobs Needed for People Over 50
The Pensioners’ Association refused to accept this. Instead of raising the statutory retirement age, jobs for people over 50 are needed. Furthermore, measures are required to keep people healthy and employed longer. The assumption that older workers do not want to work is wrong, Bieler argued—rather, the appropriate jobs are missing.

“If Mr. Knill had researched before making his statements, he would have found the following unmistakable numbers: people over 50 are the group most affected by long-term unemployment,” emphasized the interim PVÖ president. Nationwide, one-third of the long-term unemployed are over 50, and a quarter are over 55. The main reason is often the still very age-hostile attitudes in the economy. Therefore, the Pensioners’ Association has long called for a bonus-malus system that rewards companies employing or newly hiring older workers and penalizes those that extensively force early retirement or push older employees out.

Criticism from FPÖ and Greens
The FPÖ, represented by social affairs spokesperson Dagmar Belakowitsch, also criticized Knill. If Knill thinks the retirement age can be raised to 70, that is “not only completely detached from reality and cynical, but also a form of bashing older workers in a neoliberal fashion,” Belakowitsch said. As head of the Federation of Austrian Industries, he should instead focus on how to enable young people to enter the workforce more quickly through tax incentives or keep the long-term unemployed and older workers employed longer.

Green social affairs spokesperson Markus Koza also used strong words: Knill’s demand is “clearly to be rejected.” “Now it is mainly a matter of aligning the effective retirement age with the current legal one. Discussions about working until 70 do not help us an inch forward; they only reflect incredible aloofness.” Given rising unemployment—especially among older people—the demand is “absurd and cynical,” Koza added.

GPA: “Not a Serious Proposal”
“Anyone who seriously examines the Austrian pension system knows that pensions are secure and that multiple levers must be adjusted if one wants the de facto retirement age to rise,” explained ÖGB president Wolfgang Katzian. By now, one in four does not retire from employment but after sick leave or while unemployed. Katzian also wants to hold companies accountable for employing older workers.

GPA chair Barbara Teiber was harsh toward Knill: “This is not a serious proposal; it is a deliberate provocation—against all those who have worked their entire lives and often fight for their health or jobs at 60.” “This has nothing to do with labor-market policy; it is sheer cynicism,” Teiber said.