A current study by the online research institute Marketagent in cooperation with willhaben highlights the challenges in the domestic labor market. The representative survey of 1,020 employed Austrians shows: High satisfaction with job and employer meets low motivation for advancement. Home office remains a topic with potential, while AI is met with skepticism in the application process. There is a need for action regarding equality between men and women.
Key findings:
- Job satisfaction: 7 out of 10 local employees look forward to the next working day. 56% would take the same career path again, while 44% are unsure about their decision.
- Productivity in the home office: Around a third of those surveyed who work both remotely and in the office reported higher work performance when working from home. For comparison: 29% are more productive in the office.
- Part-time work: Family obligations are the main reason for part-time or marginal employment (33%). This is followed by the desire for more time with family/friends (24%) and the overwhelm of working more hours (22%).
- Fair pay: 76% are satisfied with their current salary, almost a quarter find it unfair. The baby boomer group has the highest level of satisfaction.
- Career: The results show little desire to climb the career ladder. Only a good third of those surveyed are striving for a (higher) management position (38%).
- Honest application: Almost 9 out of 10 have never lied about experience and qualifications on an application (87%).
- Artificial intelligence: Artificial intelligence still plays a minor role in job applications – only 13% have already used it (Generation Z: 27%). Three quarters are critical of the use of AI in the application process. There is still a strong preference for personal interviews (89%).
- Equality: 57% of respondents think that men have better career opportunities than women (men: 45%; women: 70%). The reasons are mainly seen in different family obligations and traditional gender roles. 49% see deficits in the promotion of women in male-dominated professional fields. Around one in two people assume that there will never be complete equality between men and women in the domestic labor market.
Job satisfaction: light and shadow
Seven out of ten respondents say they look forward to their next day at work. Employer satisfaction is also high: a good three quarters would apply to their current company again. Nevertheless, 44% of local employees critically question their previous professional career and would probably not take the same path if given a second chance.
The majority of domestic employees are satisfied with their current salary: 76% perceive their salary to be very or fairly fair, the remaining quarter feel that they are paid unfairly. Satisfaction is particularly high in the baby boomer group, while younger people view their pay more critically and feel disadvantaged more often.
Career: Little interest in management positions
When it comes to the career ambitions of Austrians, the survey comes to an exciting result: only a good third of the employees surveyed show active interest in reaching a higher position (38%), while 56% are skeptical or even skeptical about career advancement be hostile towards. “This low ambition to climb the career ladder shows that companies need to create more incentives to attract tomorrow’s managers. It is important not only to offer attractive opportunities for advancement, but also to specifically promote employees
“, says Thomas Schwabl, founder and managing director of Marketagent.
Application process: Honesty is the key, AI is offensive
As part of the application process, local employees value honesty and authenticity. Almost nine out of ten say they have never lied about their own experience and qualifications when applying for a job (87%). When it comes to job interviews, there is still a strong preference for personal conversations (89%). Overall, the local workforce is critical of the use of artificial intelligence in the application process – three quarters reject the use of such technologies. The practical use of the tools is also limited for the time being. Only 13% of respondents have already used AI support for their application. At 27%, Generation Z is significantly more open-minded and acts as a pioneer. “We see that AI applications offer many opportunities in the application process, but also raise concerns about transparency and fairness. It is therefore important to take any employee concerns seriously. In concrete terms, this means that companies are required to build trust by using artificial intelligence transparently and responsibly
“, explains Markus Zink, Head of Jobs at willhaben
Part-time employment and home office
The results make it clear that part-time employment is predominantly female. The proportion of women in the group of part-time employees in the present survey makes up a full 78%. Not surprising when you consider the motivators for reducing hours in paid work. The main reason is family obligations: 33% say that they can no longer work due to childcare, care work, etc. (women: 37%, men: 18%). Around a quarter would like to have more time for family and friends (24%).
„The results show that part-time work is still largely dominated by women, primarily due to family obligations. In order to enable real freedom of choice between full-time and part-time work, comprehensive support offers are needed to balance work and family,” explains Andrea Berger, Research & Communications at Marketagent. “More flexibility and targeted measures can help to better adapt working hours to individual living conditions.“
This flexibility is offered by working from home, for example. Although remote work is often said to result in lower productivity, the majority of domestic respondents contradict this assumption. Almost four in ten employees who work both at home and in the office are convinced that they are equally productive in both places (39%). Almost a third even deliver better work performance when working from home (32%), while 29% feel more efficient in the office. Exciting: Women in particular perceive higher productivity when teleworking. 40% of female respondents say they work more from home than in the office.
Equality a long way off
The survey results illustrate the ongoing need for action on the issue of equal opportunities between the sexes. More than half of those surveyed (57%) are of the opinion that men in Austria have better career opportunities than women. This perception is particularly pronounced among female participants: 70% of them perceive that women are disadvantaged in the labor market. But almost every second man also shares this view (45%).
The reasons for this discrepancy are seen primarily in women’s greater family commitment (66%) and traditional gender roles (59%). 49% see deficits in the promotion of women in male-dominated professional fields. The future outlook is also sobering: around 51% of those surveyed do not believe that there will ever be complete gender equality in the domestic labor market.