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From corporate to cockpit, office to workshop: Careers take detours today
🇦🇹 Austria /Economy & Trade

From corporate to cockpit, office to workshop: Careers take detours today

From Die Presse · () German

Translated from German, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • The trend of career changers, or "Quereinsteiger," is growing in Austria, with job advertisements seeking such candidates nearly quadrupling since 2019.
  • Companies increasingly open their doors to individuals from different professional backgrounds, a trend that gained momentum after the COVID-19 pandemic as businesses sought to recover.
  • While unemployment is rising, many companies still struggle to find suitable personnel, suggesting that career changers are filling a critical need in the labor market.

Austria is witnessing a significant rise in career changers, known as "Quereinsteiger," with job advertisements explicitly targeting these individuals nearly quadrupling since 2019. This trend, which has become more pronounced since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, reflects a strategic shift by companies to fill staffing needs.

This grew out of necessity. After the pandemic, many companies consciously opened up to career changers for the first time. And they also communicated this in their ads.

— Nikolai DürhammerExplaining the rise of career changers in the Austrian job market.

Nikolai Dürhammer, Managing Director of Stepstone Austria and Switzerland, notes that the pandemic prompted many companies to consciously open up to career changers. This openness is now communicated in job postings, with the share of ads seeking such candidates increasing dramatically. The analysis, based on approximately 400,000 job postings from January 2019 to April 2026, indicates that companies have become accustomed to this approach, and Dürhammer believes it is not a short-term trend because "it works very well."

You get used to it. It's not a short-term trend. Because: It works very well.

— Nikolai DürhammerCommenting on the sustainability of the career changer trend.

One example is Margret Kohlhofer, who transitioned from a long career as a hairdresser to a sales role at Helvetia insurance. Kohlhofer recognized early on that hairdressing was not her lifelong profession. Seizing an opportunity to take over her father's client base, she moved into sales. She found that many skills from her previous career, such as assessing people, listening, and building trust, were transferable. "Whether shampoo or insurance product – the important thing for me is that I stand behind the product," Kohlhofer stated.

Whether shampoo or insurance product – the important thing for me is that I stand behind the product.

— Margret KohlhoferExpressing her professional philosophy after changing careers.

Despite a rising unemployment rate in Austria, with 295,457 people registered as unemployed at the end of June and an unemployment rate of 6.9 percent, there remains a significant shortage of suitable personnel. Approximately 80,570 open positions were registered with the Public Employment Service (AMS). This persistent gap suggests that career changers are playing a crucial role in meeting the labor demands of various industries.

I speak frankly and my clients know that they will get an honest assessment from me.

— Margret KohlhoferDescribing the direct communication style she uses, honed from her previous career.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Die Presse in German. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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