Berufsberatung und Arbeitsvermittlung#

Vocational Guidance and Placement are the main tasks of the Austrian Labour Market Service (AMS), which took over the tasks of the state employment service in 1994. Its responsibilities are regulated by the Arbeitsmarktfoerderungsgesetz (AMFG; Labour Market Law) of 1968 and 1994.

Vocational and career guidance are defined as the help given to persons in choosing their occupation and planning their careers by providing information and individual guidance while taking into account their abilities and possible employability on the job market. The vocational guidance offered by the AMS must be made available to everybody who desires it. The AMS has to inform customers on job profiles, training possibilities, possible earnings, and on career prospects taking into account long-term economic development.

Job placement is regarded as an activity designed to establish contacts with a view to setting up a working relationship between people looking for jobs and prospective employers.

At present (2000), job placement services are virtually a monopoly of the AMS. For a long time, job placement through private companies was almost entirely impossible, with the exception of important charitable institutions, statutory interest groups and trade associations who have the power to enter upon collective agreements.

The legal basis for job placement through businessmen/women or enterprises was first created in 1991. At the same time, new trade law regulations were issued which regulated the profession of placement officers and established the need for a licence. So far, however, these provisions have only been applied to the placement of top managers.