Hiring in Austria? There’s no single minimum wage to check.

Austria is one of Central Europe’s most established places to build a team, but getting your employment model wrong still carries real cost in time, money, and compliance. We help you choose the right way to hire, place you with the right partner, and stay alongside you for the life of the relationship.

  • Independent advice
  • Vetted partners
  • On your side at renewal

A great market to hire in. A CBA-driven pay floor underneath.

Austria is one of Central Europe’s most stable, high-income economies, with deep manufacturing and financial-services roots and a highly skilled, multilingual workforce, but there is no single statutory minimum wage to check: pay floors are set sector by sector through collective bargaining, which a company used to one national number can easily get wrong.

01

Eurozone member, CEE headquarters hub

Austria has used the euro since 1999 and sits inside the EU single market, but Vienna’s role as a base for companies expanding into Central and Eastern Europe, hundreds of multinationals run their CEE regional headquarters from Austria, is the more distinctive fact for a hiring plan than the currency itself.

02

No single minimum wage, by design

There is no statutory minimum wage: pay floors come from roughly 800 sector-level Kollektivverträge (collective bargaining agreements), mandatory ASVG social-insurance contributions split across pension, health, accident, and unemployment branches plus additional levies, and dismissal protections that route through works-council consultation rather than at-will exit mean your employment structure has to be chosen with care.

03

Independent expert advice

Not sure whether you need EOR, payroll, or your own GmbH? We map your headcount, timeline, and risk profile and give you a clear recommendation, not a product pitch.

Four ways to hire in Austria. Pick once, pick right.

Most businesses arrive having already decided, and often decided too quickly. Here is the honest version of each route. When one fits, the detailed guide is one click away.

Employer of Record

An EOR partner becomes the legal employer of your Austrian staff, handling the contract, payroll, statutory withholdings (income tax, ASVG social insurance), and labour-law compliance, while you direct the work. Operational in days, no entity needed. Best for testing the market or hiring a small team.

Learn more

Global Payroll

For when you already have an Austrian entity, or want to consolidate payroll across several countries. You stay the legal employer; a specialist partner runs the monthly withholding, ASVG social-insurance filings, and Finanzamt remittances correctly.

Learn more

Entity Formation (GmbH)

Your own Austrian company, most commonly a GmbH (limited liability company), formed by notarial deed and Firmenbuch entry. Full control and a local presence, but you carry a notary, registration, and ongoing filings. Right when the headcount and permanence justify it.

Learn more

PEO Services

A co-employment model alongside your own Austrian entity. True PEO co-employment is far less established in Austria than in the US, so for most companies EOR or managed payroll is the better fit. We will tell you honestly which one your situation calls for.

Learn more

Austria at a glance

Currency

Euro (EUR). Austria has been part of the eurozone since 1999, so if your budget already lives in EUR there is no currency-conversion risk to plan around, unlike several of Austria’s Central European neighbours.

Pay floor (2026)

No statutory minimum wage. Pay floors are set by sector-level collective bargaining agreements (Kollektivverträge), covering around 98% of employees; typical 2026 entry-level CBA minimums run EUR 1,800-2,000 per month, paid 14 times a year.

Employer costs

Employers pay approximately 20.98% of gross salary in ASVG social insurance (pension, health, accident, and unemployment, plus a housing levy), capped at the EUR 6,930/month contribution ceiling, on top of a 1.53% severance contribution and separate Kommunalsteuer and family-fund payroll levies.

Leave & Notice

Austria is not at-will: employer notice is tiered by tenure from 6 weeks up to 5 months, and dismissals at businesses with a works council go through a pre-notice consultation step. Minimum 25 working days’ paid annual leave (5 weeks, rising to 30 after 25 years’ service), with 13 public holidays in 2026.

Hiring in Austria: quick answers

The questions we are asked most about hiring in Austria.

What is the fastest way to hire someone in Austria?

An Employer of Record. Your hire can start in days, with a compliant Austrian employment contract from day one and no entity to set up. It is the lowest-risk way to test the market or place a small team.

Do I need an Austrian entity to hire?

No. With an EOR you can employ people in Austria without your own company. You only need to incorporate when you are committing to a permanent, larger presence, and we will tell you honestly when that point arrives.

There is no single statutory minimum wage to check against, only the collective bargaining agreement for your sector, and mandatory ASVG contributions that split across four separate insurance branches rather than one combined payroll tax. None of it is a problem when handled correctly, which is the point of getting the model right at the start.

We are independent: we assess what you actually need, place you with the right vetted partner, secure pricing you will not get going direct, and stay on your side to escalate or renegotiate. You get advice, not a product pitch.

Let’s map your Austria hire.

Tell us who you want to hire and where you are headed in Austria. One conversation maps your options, flags the risks, and usually gets you to a better answer, and better pricing, than going direct. No pitch.

Tax and labour data verified July 2026 (ÖGK, BMF, WKO). Figures change; we confirm the current position when we scope your hire.