AI-Supported Analysis by Vienna-Based Company Nejo Reveals Surprising Priorities Among Austrian Employers

While companies complain about a shortage of skilled workers, highly educated young graduates are finding it increasingly difficult to start their careers. At the end of January 2025, almost 32,000 people with academic degrees were unemployed in Austria—an increase of 18% compared to the same month last year. By comparison, the overall unemployment rate rose by 6.4% during the same period.

This discrepancy raises questions: Is technological change already making itself felt on the labor market? Is artificial intelligence increasingly taking over routine tasks that were previously reserved for career starters? And if so, what skills are still in demand? A study by Nejo in cooperation with the University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien is now set to provide the data to answer these questions.

The 10 most sought-after skills

Customer focus tops the ranking of the most sought-after skills on the labor market – around one in six job advertisements require this trait, followed by the ability to work independently, reliability, and teamwork. The picture is revealing: people who can work independently but are still strong team players are in demand.

Willingness to learn completes the top 5 – a sign that employers want flexible employees who can adapt to new requirements.

Microsoft Office is the only hard skill to make it into the top 10 – around one in 13 job advertisements require this skill. The remaining places are taken by willingness to work shifts, stress resistance, taking responsibility, and commitment – all qualities that point to a job market that places high demands on flexibility and stamina.

Hard skills as door openers

“Soft skills account for almost half of all job requirements analyzed,” explains Aloisious Caraet, data scientist at Nejo. “On average, job ads require 4.6 personal skills, but only 1.2 technical skills.” Nevertheless, hard skills often act as the first filter in the application process: they determine who is invited to an interview. “In the interview itself, however, soft skills often become the decisive criterion,” says Caraet.

Microsoft Office dominates the list of most sought-after technical skills by a wide margin, followed by general IT skills (about every 41st job ad) and spreadsheet programs (about every 98th job ad).

It is noteworthy that Java, a programming language, ranks fourth among the most sought-after hard skills – about one in every 172 job advertisements requires this skill. This shows that programming skills are no longer only in demand in the IT industry.

Python’s eighth place among the most sought-after technical skills underscores another important trend: The programming language is considered the gateway to the world of AI, and thus to the job market of the future.

From factories to banks: programming is conquering all industries

Programming languages are conquering industries that have long been considered non-technical. Even in the construction, energy supply, and finance industries, coding skills are already among the top 15 most sought-after technical skills. In Germany, programming languages have even made it into the top 5 in these industries—an indication that digitalization is advancing more rapidly there.

“Programming is finding its way into all industries. It’s no longer just about becoming a full-time developer,” says Günter Essl, career researcher at the University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien. “The key is to automate routines and understand data confidently. With AI, this is becoming even more important: if you want to use ChatGPT & Co. really productively, you’ll benefit from solid programming basics – to build your own solutions and connect tools intelligently.”

Carinthia demands, Vorarlberg takes it easy

There are notable regional differences in the requirements profiles of job advertisements: In Carinthia, for example, around one in nine job advertisements explicitly requires stress resistance – in Vorarlberg, it is only one in 45. Carinthia also leads the way in terms of willingness to learn, with around one in six job advertisements, while Vienna is at the lower end of the spectrum with one in 15 job advertisements. Lower Austria achieves the highest score for customer orientation – around one in five job advertisements requires this skill. Upper Austria places particular emphasis on independent work.

As expected, Vienna is a digital hotspot: around one in eight job advertisements requires Microsoft Office skills, compared to only one in 13 across Austria as a whole.

AI revolution still difficult to measure, but on the rise

Although tools such as ChatGPT are already changing everyday working life, less than 1% of job advertisements mention explicit skills related to artificial intelligence, such as the use of machine learning or the application of the basics of artificial intelligence.

However, the low prevalence to date is probably also due to the “ESCO” skill taxonomy used in the study, which is published and maintained by the European Union. “Skills such as using ChatGPT or other generative AI tools are not yet included in this taxonomy and were therefore not measurable for us in this study,” explains Simona Hübl, CEO of Nejo. “AI will change the job market forever. This makes it all the more important to know exactly what is changing and at what pace,” says Hübl, who is already working with her team on their own AI skill taxonomy for future research projects.

About Skill Radar 2025

Skill Radar 2025 is based on an analysis of 225,000 skills from over 21,000 job advertisements posted in Austria on July 31, 2025. The AI technology used for the analysis was developed in collaboration with the University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien – the results are available at https://mynejo.com/analytics.

About Nejo

Nejo is a technology company specializing in the analysis of labor market data. Under the motto “Understanding tomorrow’s job market today,” Nejo develops innovative solutions that provide real-time insights into job market trends and provide companies, employees, and policymakers with sound data for future-proof decisions.

About the University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien

The University of Applied Sciences Technikum Wien is Austria’s university of applied sciences for technology and digitalization. Since its foundation in 1994, it has produced around 18,000 graduates. Currently, more than 4,700 students, including more than 1,000 women, are being trained in more than 30 bachelor’s and master’s degree programs to become top executives for the economy. The degree programs are offered in daytime or evening formats. The courses are scientifically sound and at the same time practical. In addition to high-quality technical training, great importance is also attached to economic and personality-building subjects. Excellent contacts and cooperation with business and industry open up the best career opportunities for students and graduates. Both in teaching and in research, the integration of theory and practice is a top priority.

Further Information:

Nejo publishes Labor Market Radar: AI technology developed in collaboration with UAS Technikum Wien

nejo and UAS Technikum Wien: Partnership to promote innovative job placement

These skills count most on the job market (Krone – September 16, 2025)

Job advertisements: Customer focus as the most important skill (Salzburger Nachrichten – September 16, 2025)