The hidden labor force in Austria – an unused workforce

Abstract

The hidden labor force receives little attention despite being a relevant group for labor market policy in Austria. The aim of the article is to close this gap by providing empirical knowledge about this group. For this purpose, we apply the definition of Statistics Austria, which means, that hidden labor force contains persons who are not searching for a job, but who are immediately available for a job, and use the Labour Force Survey for the years 2016 to 2020 as a database. According to this definition, 100,000 to 150,000 people belong to the hidden labor force, depending on the economic situation. Their educational qualifications and professional qualifications vary, but reveal a concentration of low educational qualifications and unlearned jobs. A fictitious matching show that a quarter to half of them could be assigned to a vacant position in the labor market. The international unemployment rate would increase by up to 3.2 percentage points if the hidden labor force is included in the calculation. This finding also underlines the relevance of this group for labor market policy.