Blog Post

Austria published its 2026 shortage occupation list on 23 December 2025, and it is the longest one yet. The Skilled Workers Regulation for 2026 names 64 shortage occupations across the whole country and 66 more that count only in particular provinces. The nationwide list was 58 jobs in 2025, so six occupations have been added. If yours is one of them, the hardest part of an Austrian work permit has already been done for you.

That last sentence is the whole point of the Austria shortage occupation list, and it is the part most guides skip. Being on the list does not just mean employers are keen. It removes a legal step. Read on for what changed this year, what the list actually does for your application, and the points test you still have to pass.

What changed for 2026

The regulation runs for the calendar year, from 1 January to 31 December 2026, and then it is rewritten. Three changes are worth knowing about:

• The nationwide list grew from 58 to 64 occupations. More roles now skip the labour market test than at any point since the scheme began.
• Locomotive drivers were added. Austria’s railways have been short of qualified drivers for years and the shortage has now crossed the statutory threshold.
• Payroll specialists and inclusive early childhood educators were added. Two very different gaps, one from the digitisation of HR work, one from a shortage of trained staff in special needs childcare.

Engineering, the construction trades and nursing all stayed on. So did the high demand technical profiles, including data processing engineers and high voltage electrical specialists.

What being on the list actually gets you

Normally, before an Austrian employer can hire a non EU worker, the public employment service has to test whether anyone already in the Austrian or EU labour market could do the job. That test takes time, and it can be failed.

For a shortage occupation, it does not happen. The regulation has already established, using the previous year’s data, that there are not enough people available. So the check is skipped entirely, and your Red White Red Card application goes straight to the points assessment. That is why applications in these roles usually move faster than the same application in a job that is not listed.

It is worth being precise about what it does not do. It does not waive the points test, it does not waive recognition of your qualification, and it does not mean a job offer is guaranteed. You still need an employer.

How a job gets on the list

The test is arithmetic, not opinion. An occupation qualifies when fewer than 1.5 registered jobseekers were available for every vacancy reported to the public employment service over the course of a year. The AMS collects the vacancy and jobseeker data, the ministry turns it into the regulation, and the whole thing is reissued each December.

Two things follow from that. A job can drop off the list as soon as supply catches up, so a list from an earlier year tells you nothing about this year. And the ratio is measured per occupation, not per sector, which is why the list mixes locomotive drivers with payroll clerks instead of naming whole industries.

Nationwide or regional, and why it matters

The 66 regional occupations are the part people trip over. A regional shortage occupation only counts if the job is in the province that listed it. A role short of staff in Carinthia but not in Vienna gets you nothing if the job offer is in Vienna.

So check both lists, and check the province your offer is actually in before you assume the fast route applies. If your occupation is on neither list, the Red White Red Card is still open to you as a skilled worker or through the EU Blue Card, but the labour market test comes back.

The points test you still have to pass

Shortage occupation applicants need 55 points out of a possible 90. You do not have to score in every category. Here is where the points come from:

The practical reading of that table: qualification and language together carry 55 points, which is the pass mark on their own. A recognised qualification in the occupation plus solid German is the shortest route through. Relying on age and experience alone leaves you 35 points, and no way to get there.

The salary rule most guides get wrong

There is no special minimum salary for shortage occupations. You will see figures quoted, and they are usually the thresholds from a different route, most often the Blue Card or the very highly qualified worker category.

What the law requires is that your employer pays you at least the minimum set by statute, regulation or the relevant collective agreement for that job. Austrian collective agreements are sector specific and they are not low, so in practice this is a real floor. It is just not a single national number you can look up, and any guide that gives you one for shortage occupations is quoting something else.

Where to get the actual list

Because the list is reissued annually and runs to 130 entries across both parts, the only version worth working from is the current official one:

• migration.gv.at, the official immigration portal, carries the nationwide and per province lists in English and German.
• BGBl II 316/2025 is the regulation itself, in German, if you want the legally binding wording of your job title.
• The AMS publishes the vacancy data the list is built from, which is useful if you want to see whether your occupation is trending towards being added.

Roles that recur on the list year after year, and are worth checking first, include graduate nurses and nursing assistants, doctors in several specialities, electrical and mechanical engineers, data processing engineers, roofers, welders, plumbers and heating technicians, carpenters, qualified chefs, and now locomotive drivers. Check the official list for the exact wording, because the regulation names specific trade qualifications rather than broad job titles.

If your job is not on the list

Austria has other routes, and one of them is probably a better fit than waiting a year to see if your occupation gets added:

• The Austrian Jobseeker Visa lets you come and look for work before you have an offer.
• Seasonal work in Austria covers tourism and agriculture on a shorter permit.
• Moving to Austria as a non EU resident walks through the routes side by side.
• The EU Blue Card is often stronger for graduates, and it is portable across most of the EU.

And if you want to start from the vacancies rather than the paperwork, browse shortage jobs with visa sponsorship on our job board. Austria is one of 15 European countries with a work visa route worth comparing before you commit to one.

Last checked September 2026 against the Skilled Workers Regulation 2026 (BGBl II 316/2025), which expires on 31 December 2026. The 2027 list is due to be published in late December 2026.

More on working in Austria

• Working Temporarily as a Seasonal Worker in Austria
• How to apply for the Austrian Jobseeker Visa
• How to move to Austria as a non-EU resident