- Leading companies expect deterioration compared to locations abroad
- Digitalisation and automation will intensify location competition further
- Weak domestic market results in even greater pressure for success in exports
Difficult situation, even more uncertain prospects for the future: Leitbetriebe Austria companies are largely sceptical about Austria’s future as a location for industrial production. At the Leitbetriebe Austria’s expert panel discussion „Produktionsstandort Österreich“, held at textile management company Salesianer Miettex, the significantly higher labour costs (wage costs plus non-wage labour costs) compared to nearly every other country were judged to be a particular threat to domestic production’s long-term competitive capacity.
Host Salesianer Miettex’s Managing Director Andreas Philipp began by pointing to the considerable differences in cost: „In our Austrian branches the costs of personnel are 61 cents per kilo of laundry, in our foreign branches just 21 cents. Despite this, and in the interest of customer relations, we are fully committed to Austria as a location, which we demonstrate with our 13 domestic companies“.
