In line with international developments, Austrian commerce, and in particular the retail sector, has over recent years been faced with intensified competition and new competitive management strategies, caused by the growing internationalisation of the market. This has resulted in a considerable movement towards market concentration, accompanied by pressures for restructuring and deregulation of employment. These developments - which have resulted in industrial disputes, notably over (liberalised) working hours, since the mid-1990s (AT0307201N [1]) - have, according to commentators, had a problematic impact on the sector’s working conditions, especially as regards job security, quality of work, working hours regulations and remuneration.[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/government-proposes-amendments-to-shop-opening-hours-act
May 2004 saw the presentation of the results of a study of employment in the commerce sector, conducted by the Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO). The research finds that: jobs are less secure than in other sectors; the average duration of employment is very short; part-time and 'minor' work are tending to replace standard employment relationships, which has a 'dumping' effect on wages; and women make up the majority of the workforce. In the light of these findings, the Chamber of Labour (AK) and the Union of Salaried Employees (GPA) have called on the government to make 'atypical' employment less attractive to commerce employers.
In line with international developments, Austrian commerce, and in particular the retail sector, has over recent years been faced with intensified competition and new competitive management strategies, caused by the growing internationalisation of the market. This has resulted in a considerable movement towards market concentration, accompanied by pressures for restructuring and deregulation of employment. These developments - which have resulted in industrial disputes, notably over (liberalised) working hours, since the mid-1990s (AT0307201N) - have, according to commentators, had a problematic impact on the sector’s working conditions, especially as regards job security, quality of work, working hours regulations and remuneration.
In the context of intensified complaints over deteriorating working conditions in retail from both employees and trade unions, the Chamber of Labour (Arbeiterkammer, AK) recently commissioned the Austrian Institute of Economic Research (Österreichisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, WIFO) to conduct a study on employment in commerce (Beschäftigung im Handel). The study’s findings were presented at a press conference jointly held by AK and the Union of Salaried Employees (Gewerkschaft der Privatangestellten, GPA) on 5 May 2004.
Findings
The main findings of the WIFO study are set out below.
Large-scale fluctuation in employment
Commerce in Austria employed about some 496,000 workers on average in 2002; the corresponding number for 1995 was about 480,000. The growth in employment in the sector, however, is not based on 'regular' full-time jobs, but on (often involuntary) part-time work. Moreover, jobs in commerce, and in particular in retail, are especially insecure.
The WIFO study states that one of the most notable features of commerce is its extraordinarily flexible labour market. On average, about 47% of all employment relationships in commerce are terminated within one year - see table 1 below. However, the sector’s branches and enterprises differ widely in this respect. In retail, and in particular in the large firms and chain stores, the jobs are significantly more insecure than in overall commerce: 52% of all employment relationships in retail do not last longer than one year and, considering only the large food chain stores, this percentage nears 60%.
| Branches | Employees losing their jobs within one year |
| Motor vehicles trade | 36.5% |
| Wholesale trade | 46.2% |
| Retail trade | 51.8% |
| - food chain stores | 59.0% |
| Overall commerce | 47.4% |
Source: WIFO and AK, 2004.
The employees’ risk of losing their jobs is about one-third higher in commerce than in the overall economy: Of all people employed in commerce in 2000 who were fully covered by social insurance, 5.7% had become unemployed two years later. The corresponding average figure for all other sectors was 4.3%.
Growth of 'atypical' work
The WIFO study corroborates the unions’ long-standing presumption that the structure of employment in commerce is increasingly being shaped by a high share of non-standard employment. As mentioned above, the total growth in the number of employment relationships over recent years is attributed to the tendency of companies to expand part-time work, in particular in the form of 'minor' work performed by 'minimally employed workers' , who are only marginally covered by the social insurance system ( AT0308201N ). At the same time, the number of workers employed on a full-time basis in commerce has decreased, which has led to a decline in the total volume of working hours performed in the sector, despite net job increases. Notably, this development has affected retail. The share of part-time workers in the retail workforce increased from slightly less than a quarter to around a third over the period 1995-2002. Table 2 below gives a general overview of part-time work in the overall commerce sector, compared with the average for all other sectors of the economy.
| . | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 |
| Commerce | 19 | 19 | 22 | 25 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 27 |
| Other sectors | 11 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 |
Source: AK, 2004.
The increase in 'minor' work in commerce over 1995-2002 stood at 60%. The highest rise in the number of 'minimally employed workers' in commerce was recorded in 1997 (up 22% in comparison with the preceding year), resulting from the 1997 liberalisation of the shop opening hours.
Lower wages
The flexibilisation of working time regulations as well as changing working practices related to 'atypical' employment have had a downward effect on wages in the commerce sector, according to the WIFO study. In 2000, a quarter of all Austrian employees (engaged in only one employment relationship) earned less than EUR 1,150 (gross income) per month, but this was true of a third of employees in commerce. The one-third figure for commerce excludes 'minimally employed workers' . If this group is included in the calculations, the proportion of commerce employees earning less than EUR 1,150 rose to about 40% in 2000. According to WIFO, the number of people working in commerce and whose earnings are in the lowest quartile increased by some 10,000 over the 1995-2000 period - see table 3 below.
| Year | Threshold for lowest quartile | All sectors of economy | Overall commerce | Retail trade | Wholesale trade | Motor vehicles trade | Food chain stores |
| 1996 | EUR 1,097 | 25% | 32.3% | 44% | 23% | 20% | 50% |
| 2000 | EUR 1,147 | 25% | 33.3% | 46% | 24% | 18% | 53% |
Source: WIFO and AK, 2004.
The problem of (extreme) low pay in commerce essentially applies to retail, in particular the large food retailers, which in 2000 paid monthly wages lower than EUR 1,150 to over 50% of their employees. The most important reason for this high incidence of low pay is the outstandingly high share of part-time work in retail, according to the study.
Women as 'working poor'
In terms of gender, atypical work is a women’s 'domain' . The share of female employment in commerce is very high compared with most other sectors, at about 52%. Women make up more than two-thirds of the retail workforce. The WIFO study finds that about 94% of all part-time workers and 76% of all 'minimally employed workers' in commerce are women. Moreover, women’s chances of moving from 'minor' work to a standard employment relationship (with full social insurance coverage) is significantly lower than that of men. Some 43% of women who worked under the terms of a 'minimal' employment contract in 2000 continued to do so in 2002, while the corresponding share of men amounted to 37%. Against this background, many women employed in retail find themselves in a financially precarious situation: 62% of all women working in retail earned wages of less than EUR 1,150 (gross income) per month in 2002.
Demands of organised labour
Backed by these empirical findings, both AK and GPA have put forward a range of demands aimed at reducing the current attractiveness of part-time and 'minor' work to employers, mainly resulting from favourable social insurance contribution regulations relating to these 'atypical' employment relationships. Accordingly, organised labour calls upon the government to
introduce overtime premium pay for part-time workers analogous to regulations for full-time workers;
increase the employers’ flat rate of social insurance contributions in respect of 'minimally employed workers' to that for standard workers (ie 20.25% of the total wage bill);
re-establish the former regulation which provided that for each Saturday afternoon worked, an employee had to be given the whole of the next Saturday off; and
introduce effective sanctions to be imposed on employers if they fail correctly to register their employees’ working hours.
Commentary
Over recent years, economic internationalisation together with national legislation, in particular in terms of relaxation of working time regulations, has accelerated the market concentration process in commerce. Intensified competition has put considerable pressure on organised labour to conclude agreements enabling companies to establish more flexible and more extended working time arrangements. This development clearly favours large firms to the detriment of smaller ones, since the latter in most cases are not able to make use of more flexible arrangements owing to limited staff capacities. For the employees, intensified competition means the necessity to adapt to more flexible and dispersed working hours, often under the unfavourable terms and conditions of a part-time or even minimal employment contract. However, in the face of the neo-liberal policy line of the present government, the demands of both AK and GPA to make such 'atypical' employment less attractive seem unlikely to be realised. (Georg Adam, University of Vienna)
Το Eurofound συνιστά την παραπομπή σε αυτή τη δημοσίευση με τον ακόλουθο τρόπο.
Eurofound (2004), Study finds deteriorating working conditions in commerce, article.
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