Effects of the COVID-19 Crisis on the Contributory Wage Bill 2020 to 2024

The restrictive measures taken to contain the COVID-19 pandemic led to the deepest economic recession in Austria's post-war history. This study quantifies the effects of this crisis on the development of the contributory wage bill in Austria in the years 2020 to 2024. It also analyses various mechanisms that mediate these effects. According to the results, until 2021 employment development was significantly more important than wage development for the development of the wage bill, after which the development of wages should dominate the further development of the wage bill. Moreover, in terms of industry, the crisis was heavily concentrated in lower-wage sectors. At the individual level, low-wage workers in particular lost their jobs.