Employment of Older People: Call for Bonus/Malus System

In view of the demographic development and the increasing retirement age, the Chamber of Labor (AK) and the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB) are demanding a package of measures to ensure that people over 60 remain employed longer. A central element is a bonus/malus system that is intended to reward companies for employing older people and penalize them for refusal.

Share of Total Workforce at Five Percent

"30 percent of medium and larger companies with at least 20 employees, which is 7,400 companies, do not employ a single older person, neither man nor woman over 60," said the head of the social insurance department at the AK Vienna, Wolfgang Panhölzl, on Friday at a press conference in Vienna. According to AK and ÖGB, the share of 60- to 64-year-olds in the total workforce is currently only around five percent - with massive differences between industries and companies. "The challenge is to bring 100,000 employees in the 60- to 64-year-old age group - which is about 700,000 people in the population - into employment in the coming years," said Panhölzl.

While in the construction or hospitality industry, hundreds of companies do not employ a single person over 60, there are also companies that employ an above-average number of older people. According to Panhölzl, this unequal distribution shows that structural measures are necessary to better utilize the existing potential.

Majority of 60- to 64-Year-Olds Not Employed

The average retirement age has increased from 58.5 to 62.4 years for men and from 56.8 to 60.4 for women since 2000. According to AK, in 2024, only 22.8 percent of women in the 60- to 64-year-old age group were employed (76,000 out of 340,000) and 45.6 percent of men (around 150,000 out of 330,000). By 2030, according to the government program, an additional 100,000 people in this age group are to be employed, which would correspond to a doubling of the older employment rate. However, this goal is far from being achieved.

The intended equalization of the retirement age means that women will have to work longer in the future. However, age-appropriate workplaces are needed for this, emphasized ÖGB Federal Managing Director Helene Schuberth. In many industries, there are hardly any opportunities to switch from heavy to lighter tasks.