Number of full-time jobs in Austria decreases in 2014

The number of full-time jobs in Austria decreased by 36,400 in 2014, continuing a trend of increased numbers of workers turning to part-time work, Statistics Austria stated in its latest employment report Thursday.

The number of part-time jobs for 2014 increased 44,000, with women taking 30,800 of these jobs. The number of workers engaged in part-time employment thus increased from 26.8 percent to 27.9 percent.

A total of 46.9 percent of women now work part-time, amounting to 908,000 people, compared to only 10.9 percent of men, or 238,000 people. The decrease in full-time jobs however affected both genders equally.

The main reason given for actively choosing part-time work was the raising of children or caring for the elderly, with 38.1 percent of women stating this as their motivation, compared to just 3.8 percent of men.

Another common reason was that they simply did not want to work full-time, 23.2 percent of men in part-time work giving this as their reason compared to 19.6 percent of women.

According to Statistics Austria's new calculation method, overall in 2014 the national Austrian unemployment rate increased to 5.6 percent, from 5.4 percent in 2013, the report stated. Endit