When a job ends in Austria, the next chapter is not the same for everyone. In 2025, more than one in four people, 28 percent, had no employment immediately after leaving or losing a job, according to new figures from Statistics Austria.
The data, drawn from the country’s register-based labour-market records, reveal a labour market marked by sharp differences between industries, ages and genders. Men were slightly more likely than women to face unemployment after a job ended: almost 30 percent compared with just over 25 percent of women.
Age also shaped the outcome. Among people aged 30 to 64, more than 30 percent were unemployed after their employment ended. Younger workers, aged 15 to 29, fared somewhat better, with just over 23 percent out of work. For those aged 65 and over, the figure fell to 1.1 percent, largely because 66 percent moved directly into retirement.
The construction industry stood out as the hardest-hit sector. More than 46 percent of people whose jobs ended there were unemployed afterwards, well above the national average. The sector’s seasonal nature may help explain the pattern, as work often pauses or ends when projects finish.
At the other end of the scale, agriculture and forestry recorded the lowest unemployment rate after job endings, at 7.7 percent. But the figure comes with an important caveat: nearly 64 percent of those whose employment ended in the sector no longer had their main home in Austria, suggesting many were seasonal workers who left the country. Their subsequent employment status is unknown.
Not everyone who left a job entered unemployment. About 16.4 percent moved into a new salaried position, while 3.6 percent became self-employed. In total, 23.4 percent resumed some form of employment in Austria.
The IT sector offered the smoothest route back into work. It recorded one of the lowest unemployment rates after a job ended, at 24.7 percent, and had the highest share of workers moving directly into a new salaried job.
The media sector told a different story. Although its unemployment rate was relatively low, 15.4 percent of former media employees became self-employed; far above the national average of 3.6 percent. The sector also had a comparatively high share moving into marginal part-time work.
The figures also expose a familiar gender divide in childcare. After a job ended, 7.4 percent of women entered maternity protection or parental leave, compared with only 2.5 percent of men. The gap suggests that women still carry a substantially larger share of childcare responsibilities in Austria.
Statistics Austria noted that the data do not show whether jobs ended through dismissal or resignation. Nor do they reveal how long people remained unemployed, or whether some quickly found work after a short break.
Still, the message is clear: in Austria, the end of a job is often only the beginning of an uncertain wait and for construction workers, that wait is especially long.
