Finding a Job in Austria
The job market, in-demand fields, and how hiring works
Austrian hiring is formal, credential-led and conducted in German outside a narrow set of international employers. The Public Employment Service is the central institution, both as the largest job platform and as the body that assesses the labour market side of most work permits, and the annual shortage occupation list is the clearest published statement of where demand exceeds supply.
| Public job platform | AMS eJob-Room source |
| Shortage occupations | Published annually, national and regional lists source |
| Qualification recognition | Required in regulated professions and for points source |
| Labour market statistics | Published by Statistics Austria source |
| Collective agreements | Most sectors set minimum pay by collective agreement |
Before applying
- Establish whether the occupation is regulated. Health professions, several engineering roles, legal and accountancy professions and many crafts require formal recognition or an entry in a professional register before work can begin.
- Have qualifications assessed. Recognition or a formal comparability statement is normally needed both for the profession and for the points grid of the Red-White-Red Card.
- Check the current shortage occupation list, since a listed occupation changes the permit route as well as the hiring prospects.
- Prepare a German-language application file in the local convention, which is more formal than the Anglophone norm and commonly includes qualification certificates and references as attachments.
How pay is set
Most Austrian employment is covered by sector-level collective agreements which fix minimum pay by role and years of experience, together with the customary thirteenth and fourteenth monthly payments. This makes salaries predictable and limits the room for negotiation, but it also means the minimum for a given classification is published rather than hidden.
Immigration rules interact with this directly: several Red-White-Red Card categories require pay at or above both the collective agreement rate and a separate published threshold, so an offer below the applicable collective agreement will not support a permit.
Where the demand is
Recent shortage lists have been dominated by technical trades, engineering disciplines, nursing and other health occupations, and by parts of construction, hospitality and transport. Information technology roles appear regularly, and the provincial lists add regionally specific occupations that the national list omits.
Outside those areas the market is competitive, and German at a working level is expected. English-only roles are concentrated in international organisations in Vienna, in parts of the technology sector and in tourism.
The role of the AMS
The Public Employment Service operates the main public job platform, funds training and German courses, and carries out the labour market test that decides whether an employer may fill a role with a non-EU national. Applications for a work-based residence title are assessed on both sides at once: the residence authority looks at the person, and the AMS looks at the job.
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Official sources
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