Austria 2025 – Unemployment and the Role of Active Labour Market Policy

Unemployment has spread significantly in the past years, entrenched at the individual level, especially among the low-skilled, older and/or health-challenged persons. Against this background the present paper provides an inventory of national and international evidence regarding the effectiveness of active labour market policy in its core task of supporting unemployed persons to return to employment. The measures taken in Austria and other OECD countries show their effectiveness – especially during an economic downturn and difficult labour market situation – by improving chances for employment among certain groups and, moderately, contributing to a reduction of aggregated unemployment. Nevertheless there is a potential for improvement when it comes to using such policies and in their specific design.