One in Four Austrian Industrial Firms Considering Moving Operations Abroad, Survey Finds
A quarter of Austria’s industrial companies are now considering relocating part of their production, procurement, or distribution abroad within the next two years, according to a new survey from the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKÖ), as persistent cost pressure and intensifying global competition squeeze the sector.
The WKÖ’s Industrieradar 2026, based on responses from 270 Austria-based industrial firms surveyed in spring 2026, paints a stark picture of how executives view the country’s competitiveness as a manufacturing location.
Labor costs seen as the central problem
The verdict on labor costs specifically was blunt: 94 percent of surveyed companies rated Austria’s unit labor costs worse than competing locations, with 76 percent calling the gap significantly worse. Energy prices drew similarly sharp criticism, with 60 percent rating Austria’s position as significantly worse than rival manufacturing hubs.
Among the roughly one in four companies actively weighing relocation, the reasoning was overwhelmingly consistent: 96 percent cited high labor costs as the decisive factor behind their thinking. Looking further out, 43 percent of companies said a partial shift of especially labor-intensive production abroad within the next three to five years was likely.
Companies aren’t waiting to act
Nearly every company surveyed, 97 percent, said it is adjusting its strategy over the next two years to cope with the pressure. The most common response, cited by 82 percent, is cost and efficiency programs, followed by automation and digitalization, cited by 61 percent, as companies look to reduce their dependence on expensive labor rather than simply absorb the cost.
What businesses say they still value about Austria
Despite the pressure, the survey wasn’t uniformly negative. Companies continued to credit Austria with genuine structural strengths: high security of energy supply, comparatively strong industrial infrastructure, and research-friendly conditions for innovation all drew positive marks. The concern executives raised isn’t that Austria lacks advantages, it’s that rising costs and mounting international competition are increasingly outweighing them.
A direct call for government action
WKÖ Secretary General Jochen Danninger was direct in his assessment, stating that Austria’s industry is under pressure and urgently needs relief. At the national level, 86 percent of surveyed companies called for reduced non-wage labor costs specifically, while 63 percent want fewer reporting obligations and less administrative burden, particularly around environmental and sustainability compliance requirements.
Vienna Times Perspective
This survey lands squarely alongside other economic strain we’ve been tracking this month, Austria’s unemployment rate climbing to 6.9 percent for a 40th consecutive month, and Upper Austria’s insolvency figures outpacing the national average. Taken together, the picture is one of an industrial base under genuine, compounding strain rather than a single isolated data point. If a meaningful share of the quarter of companies now “considering” relocation actually follow through in the next two to five years, the knock-on effect for Austria’s already-elevated unemployment rate could be significant, making this WKÖ survey less a standalone warning than an early signal worth watching closely alongside the labor market data already trending in the wrong direction.
