Public Employment Service Austria (AMS)

• About AMS
• Working, Recruiting & Studying
• Unemployment insurance
• Recruiting & placement services with EURES
• Migration Affairs
  • Basic principles
    • The upper limit model
  • Entry, residence, settlement, employment papers
  • Access authorizations
• Statistics

The upper limit model

The number of foreign nationals who are allowed to work in Austria is controlled by the upper limit system (upper limits at federal and provincial level to ensure controlled entry of foreign workers).

This system stipulates that (at present) the total number of employed and unemployed foreign nationals must not exceed 8% of the Austrian labour force. All foreign nationals employed within the framework of an employment permit, short-term or long-term work permit are included in this quota.
If this quota is exceeded, only specific groups of people can be conferred a pre-employment permit and an employment permit when it is considered in the interests of the public and general economic good up to a maximum of 9%. Access to the Austrian labour market is still possible, for example for the following cases:

• War refugees in the framework of the law governing foreign nationals;
• Managers and particularly  highly qualified employees (in particular when their employment is accompanied by the transfer of capital and the opening of new branches in Austria);
• Foreign nationals whose access to the labour market is foreseen in bilateral agreements;
• Frontier commuters for an employer who has employed them for at least 6 months of the previous year;
• Limited seasonal permits in the fields of agriculture, forestry and tourism;
• Employees of a foreign employer placed in Austria;
• Integrated foreign nationals who have lived in Austria for at least 8 years;
• Young foreign nationals with a settlement permit.

If the quota has not been exceeded, the provinces have to stick by the individual quotas laid down for each province. If the quotas have been exceeded, a more rigorous procedure is applied whereby the labour market situation is assessed and the unanimous agreement of the interest groups is required - or the employment is considered in the interests of the general public or economic good.