Employment in the Trade Sector 2010 to 2022

This project report is dedicated to the development of employment and working hours in the Austrian wholesale and retail trade sector. The analysis covers the period from 2010 to the current year 2022. The trade sector has been affected very differently by the measures taken to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. On the one hand, there are branches directly affected by the lockdowns, which suffered significant losses in sales and employment. On the other hand, there are branches such as retail sales via mail order houses or via internet, which actually benefitted from the lockdowns. The lockdowns also led to a significant expansion of home office (especially in wholesale trade) and a marked reduction in actual working hours in the trade sector, although this is not yet reflected in changes to contractual working hours. In some branches, there are also signs that the experience in the COVID-19 pandemic led to changes in workers' desires and attitudes toward part-time work and home office.