- within Employment and HR topic(s)
- within Employment and HR, Media, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment and Tax topic(s)
- in North America
Just in time for 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻'𝘀 𝗗𝗮𝘆: Bettina Knoetzl discusses the alarming figures regarding the pay gap between women and men in Austria.
A recent study shows that women in Austria effectively work 42
days per year without pay compared to men. In 2023, women earned
18.3% less per hour than their male colleagues, a disparity that is
significantly greater than the EU average of 12.7%.
The reasons are largely structural:
- Women remain overrepresented in lower-paid sectors, such as healthcare and education, where work is still systematically undervalued.
- Unpaid domestic work continues to be unevenly distributed.
Austria has one of the highest rates of part-time employment
among women, providing reduced long-term career
opportunities.
In the legal profession, the glass ceiling also persists. Yet
there are signs of progress: over the past decade, the share of
registered female attorneys in Austria has increased from 20.5% to
25.2%, and concerted efforts to improve the compatibility of legal
practice and family life are beginning to show results. The option
to suspend legal practice after childbirth is widely taken, and
improvements to parental leave regulations are on the
horizon.
There is still significant room for progress. While 54% of new
entrants to the legal profession are women, only a small number
ultimately reach the highest earning levels.
𝗔𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮'𝘀
𝗣𝗮𝘆
𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆
𝗔𝗰𝘁 (𝟮𝟬𝟭𝟭)
has so far proven insufficient. With the 𝗘𝗨
𝗣𝗮𝘆
𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆
𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲
to be implemented by June 2026, introducing stricter reporting
obligations and sanctions, the coming years will reveal whether
meaningful change can be achieved.
https://www.linkedin.com/company/knoetzl/
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