Three perspectives on the crisis

Interview with three experts on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Tyrolean economy and working environment

MCI professor and economist Dr. Simon Czermak, together with Christoph Walser, President of the Tyrolean Chamber of Commerce, and Anton Kern, regional businessman of the Tyrolean Public Employment Service (AMS), were interviewed by Top-arbeitgeber.tirol on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Tyrolean economy and working environment. Since the beginning of the pandemic, 97,942 Tyroleans have been on short-time work and around 41,000 Tyroleans have been unemployed (as of 18 May 2020). The three experts analyzed what effects the pandemic has on the Tyrolean economy and working environment.

Simon Czermak, MCI Professor: "As a relatively small economic area, we are dependent on global markets. It is therefore very important, especially for Tyrol, that restrictions in international trade in goods and services are reduced to acceptable but minimal levels. Border openings, for example, are a basic prerequisite for achieving the necessary capacity utilization in tourism in the coming season. At the same time, the crisis has shown how important regional sources of supply for systemically important goods can be. This could create long-term opportunities for some companies."

Christoph Walser, President of the Tyrolean Chamber of Commerce: "The greatest capital for our companies are our employees. Employers must continue to expand their efforts in education and training - also with regard to apprentices. Digitization is a major issue for companies and their employees in all industries. Business travel will certainly decrease in the future - often this can be done with video conferencing."

Anton Kern, regional businessman AMS Tyrol: "We need additional funds for labor market policy measures, especially for training places and groups that already had difficulties in the labor market before the crisis. We need to focus more on getting people interested in training opportunities, as in the health and care sector".

Read the whole interview here.