In spring 2022, WIFO surveyed Austria's largest industrial companies for the third time on competitive strategies, value chains, competence development and location policy. The competitiveness of these companies is based on their ability to adapt their products and services to customer requirements, as well as their quality and technological content. Qualified workers are an important competitive factor in this context. The shortage of skilled workers is increasingly perceived as an obstacle to growth and a locational disadvantage. Accordingly, companies attach great importance to policy and regulatory measures in this thematic area. The COVID-19 crisis is likely to have further increased the importance of innovation. However, the data suggest firms have adjusted their risk propensity in the development of new technological capabilities depending on their original level of technological ambition.