Austrian unions, the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB) and the Production Workers’ Union (PRO-GE), have opposed the proposal made by Austrian Institute of Economic Research director, Gabriel Felbermayr, to raise the statutory retirement age to 67.

Austria's current statutory retirement age is 65 for men and 60 for women, with plans to gradually raise the retirement age for women to 65 by 2033.

Both ÖGB and PRO-GE stressed that raising the retirement age would penalise those who have worked for decades, often in physically demanding conditions.

“Anyone calling for retirement at 67 must also explain how people working shifts, in care, in manufacturing or on assembly lines are supposed to remain healthy whilst working until that age,” ÖGB pensions expert, Anja Hafenscher, said.

ÖGB explained that a rise in state pension age would hit those working in physically or mentally demanding jobs “particularly hard”.

“Hard work must not be penalised twice. Instead of raising the statutory retirement age further, we need jobs where people can work in good health until retirement, as well as companies that are willing to employ these people,” Hafenscher continued.

“Anyone who has worked hard for decades deserves security and a pension that allows them to live in dignity. High levels of employment with good wages are the best safeguard for our pension system – not a higher retirement age that hardly anyone can reach in good health.”

PRO-GE also argued that securing the long-term future of the pension system will be achieved by ensuring that people can remain in employment in good health until they retire, not by raising the state pension age.

“Anyone who claims that we simply need to make people work longer in future has no idea of the reality of the world of work,” Production Workers’ Union federal chairman, Reinhold Binder, said.

“Many workers reach retirement age in poor health or lose their jobs before then. For many, working until 67 does not mean two more years in employment, but two more years of unemployment or illness.”

Instead of a higher retirement age, PRO-GE has called for measures that will keep people healthy and safe in the workforce until they reach the statutory retirement age.

These measures include age-appropriate jobs, health and safety measures and preventative care, better opportunities for older workers in the labour market, and tackling unemployment in the final years of working life.

“The key question is how we can ensure that more people have a good job right up until retirement. Anyone who wants to safeguard the pension system must boost employment rather than constantly imposing new burdens on workers,” Binder emphasised.

Hafenscher also argued that a higher statutory retirement age does not solve the current problems in the labour market either, as raising the retirement age will bring neither immediate relief for the budget nor additional funding for healthcare or care services.

ÖGB presented the process of aligning the retirement age for women as evidence of this, suggesting that although it was decided in 1992, it began in 2024 and will not be fully implemented until 2033.

The union also highlighted the European Commission’s Ageing Report, which found that pension expenditure will peak in the coming years due to demographic trends and will stabilise again at a level only slightly higher than in 2022.  

Given this, ÖGB suggested that measures such as raising the statutory retirement age would only have an effect in the long term – at a time when the trend in expenditure is already easing again.

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