Retaining Employees in rural areas through improved work-life balance

• Author: Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion (European Commission)
• Pages: 50-51

SOCIAL INNOVATION: INSPIRATIONAL PRACTICES

SUPPORTING PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THEIR LIVES

50

© ABZ*AUSTRiA, 2019

V/Faktor f‌lyers

Problem addressed

In Austria, levels of rural unemployment and monetary

deprivation are among the lowest in the EU. However, there

are particularly high levels of high-skilled emigration from

rural to urban areas among women and young parents

and this has raised concerns about the future prosperity

of Austria’s rural areas. Excessive rural emigration

among skilled workers can lead to long-term economic

stagnation in af‌fected areas, given that certain industries

may fail to attract or retain qualif‌ied staf‌f. Reasons for

the emigration of high-skilled staf‌f include inadequate

childcare arrangements, stereotypical gender role models

and inadequate mobility opportunities.

Innovative solution

V/Faktor (2017–2019) is an innovative pilot project launched

in three rural Austrian regions with high emigration rates

among qualif‌ied women and young families. This initiative

aims to help businesses to retain or attract qualif‌ied workers

by facilitating the reconciliation of work, family and private

life for employees with personal responsibilities such as

childcare, education, caring for relatives or volunteering.

Measures to improve the work-life balance of employees

are traditionally organised through national legislation

or the initiative of individual companies. By contrast, V/

Faktor works at regional level by fostering partnerships

between businesses, municipal authorities and other

stakeholders to develop innovative and locally relevant

work-life balance initiatives.

The project conducted an initial consultation to

understand local businesses’ satisfaction with existing

work-life balance measures and identify their needs. The

online survey, which reached nearly 600 companies, was

supplemented with 240 personal interviews, revealing

common challenges to equality and reconciliation among

the three Austrian regions. These included inadequate

childcare, stereotypical gender role models and inadequate

mobility concepts.

Participating businesses were then connected to V/Faktor

project partners (consulting f‌irms ABZ*Austria, BAB and

ÖAR) to receive tailored consulting for the design and

implementation of work-life balance measures that are

appropriate to their industrial and regional contexts.

Retaining employees in rural areas

through improved work-life balance

V/Faktor

Austria