Short-time Work as a Crisis Tool in the COVID-19 Pandemic. Brief Expertise on the Comparison of the Models of Selected European Countries

The drastic slump in economic output in the spring of 2020 put the labour market under severe pressure. As an immediate response to the crisis, many countries have used short-time work schemes to limit the social costs of the crisis by stabilising employment. This paper provides an overview of the advantages and disadvantages as well as the design of this labour market policy instrument and compares the Austrian Corona short-time work with models in selected European countries. It is shown that short-time work regulations in Austria are comparatively generous. Moreover, the use of short-time work is relatively widespread in Austria. In the course of a foreseeable economic recovery, there are opportunities to adapt short-time work instruments. Phase models can be used for this purpose, as can a differentiation of short-time work according to the type and extent of the crisis.