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Combating the labour shortage with a special employment model

B&R is responding to the high demand for automation solutions with a special employment model and is currently introducing a new weekend shift limited to one year.

B&R is responding to the high demand for automation solutions with a special employment model and is currently introducing a new weekend shift limited to one year. 500 new production employees have already been hired for this.

For 20 hours per week, Saturdays and Sundays only, the company offers a salary equivalent to a full-time job in Austria. Within just a few weeks, more than 700 interested people applied. 300 of them started work in March, with a further 200 following in April. The trigger for this was the enormously high demand for automation solutions as a result of the COVID crisis and global supply bottlenecks.

„Further automation is currently at the top of the agenda in many industries, especially when it comes to shifting production closer to the target markets. Our solutions make a decisive contribution to maintaining and expanding customer relationships and jobs in companies. We have responded to the urgency and want to fulfil the high customer demand for automation solutions as quickly as possible. We have therefore greatly expanded our production and production times and are temporarily running additional shifts at weekends with immediate effect.“
Jörg Theis, B&R-Managing Director

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Model limited to one year

More than 700 applications were received for this attractive offer. Due to the large number of people interested in the temporary positions, the company organised seven Job Days in January and February instead of the traditional job interviews. The applicants were able to get a picture of their new workplace directly on site.

„We are grateful that the works council and trade union have agreed to the temporary special model in this special situation and that so many have opted for this model,“ emphasises Theis. The weekend shift runs until the end of February 2024 as agreed. B&R then hopes that as many of the new employees as possible will transfer to the existing shifts.

Jobs with a future

B&R is one of the globally successful companies currently investing in the jobs of the future in Austria, and is the global centre for machine and factory automation within the international technology group ABB. With the opening of the new innovation and training campus last summer, ABB expanded the B&R headquarters in Eggelsberg to more than 100,000 square metres. Since then, B&R one of the largest centres for integrated production, research and training in Central Europe.

Source: B&R