{"id":172460,"date":"2025-02-03T20:54:36","date_gmt":"2025-02-03T10:54:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.railfreight.com\/?p=59499"},"modified":"2025-02-03T20:54:36","modified_gmt":"2025-02-03T10:54:36","slug":"obb-needs-24500-new-employees-in-the-next-five-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=172460","title":{"rendered":"\u00d6BB needs 24,500 new employees in the next five years"},"content":{"rendered":"

Austrian national rail operator \u00d6BB needs a rather sizable influx of new employees in the coming year. The company is expecting approximately 9,000 workers to retire by 2030, and as a result, the company needs 4,100 new employees annually on average.<\/strong>
\n<\/span>It does not seem like \u00d6BB needs to worry about a lack of interest from applicants. The operator received 120,000 job applications throughout 2024. \u201cIt is a great challenge to handle this volume of applications in a respectful manner\u201d, the company\u2019s CEO Andreas Matth\u00e4 commented, according to Austrian media. \u00d6BB hired 6,200 new employees in the past year.<\/p>\n

\u00d6BB is particularly in search of technicians, and is making an attempt to attract them with two 2,500-euro training bonuses, travel discounts and company housing.<\/p>\n

In order to meet the company\u2019s demands, it took on 15 Tunisian employees last year as warehouse technicians and mechanics. The operator was planning to extend its foreign hiring plan to train attendants, drivers and shunters.<\/p>\n

Hiring methods criticised<\/h2>\n

The Vida trade union criticised \u00d6BB hiring methods, saying that it was putting all sorts of positions on the \u201cshort-supply list\u201d, allowing it to hire from abroad. \u201cThe government is thus risking further wage and social dumping as well as a weakening of safety and training standards\u201d, the union said at the time.<\/p>\n

In January 2024, Vida complained that workshops were at their limit and the company was short in staff. According to \u00d6BB however, the company did not have a staff shortage. \u201cWe do not have a shortage of staff, we have a need for staff, a very high need for staff\u201d, a representative explained in January 2024.<\/p>\n