Acute lack of specialists in the transport industry
The economy in the transport sector is picking up speed. This is shown by the current quarterly survey of the Federal Department of Transport and Traffic in the Austrian Economic Chamber (WKÖ). The topics are demand, business situation, order backlock, price expectation and employment. Conclusion: Most indicators remain high in the third quarter of 2017.
Both the past-related values and the forecasts of the future, are mainly positive for the domestic mobility economy. For the next six months, the majority of respondents expect an improvement in their business situation. Here, mood has even improved further compared to the last survey.
The development of transport volumes was also positive: the container handling index has increased steadily in recent months and reached a new peak in July 2017. This indicates a notiveable expansion of world trade.
Future expectations on the employment situation in the transport sector have also risen significantly and have now been for the first time in several year more optimistic compared to the past. The surveyed companies have increased their number of employees in the last three months – roughly the same as in the previous quarter.
Nevertheless, the lack of specialists is exacerbating. As in the previous two quarters, companies state the shortage of workers the most frequent obstacle to their business. Approximately every fourth company is affected. For comparison, “insufficient demand” is only an obstacle to their business activity for less than 15 per cent of respondents.
“The shortage of skilled workers is increasingly becoming a risk factor and a brake on growth for the transport industry. More and more bureaucratic requirements and checks make the job of a professional driver in particular not very attractive, “says federal division chairman Alexander Klacska.