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The Federation of Austrian Industries (IV) expects further job cuts in industry leading into summer, IV head economist Christian Helmstein told journalists here on Tuesday.
During a presentation of an economic survey of 401 companies with about 243,600 employees, he said the overall mood was more positive than earlier in 2014, though no improvement is expected for the next six months.
He said Austria has lost the domestic economic growth lead it had established over neighbour Germany for more than a decade, and if conditions do not significantly improve, "Austria will fall further behind."
Currently, conditions do not appear particularly negative for international growth, he said, adding the IV economic barometer showed an improvement in the fourth quarter of 2014.
However, he said it is only a slight improvement, with the euro devaluation and the decline in oil prices helping the industry.
Along with a lack of domestic reforms, the Austrian economy has also faced geopolitical headwinds, including the Ukraine crisis.
Companies involved in production in particular see the next three months "very cautiously," with job cuts continuing. Though present trends are expected to continue until summer, improve may be seen by the end of the year if the right measures are implemented, according to the economist.
The IV once again called for structural reforms, with Director General Christoph Neumayer saying pressure on the Austrian budget is now so large that the government has been forced to implement measures.
This includes the proposed tax reforms, for which he said not only necessary tariff adjustments must be made, but also that companies must be freed from bureaucratic pressure.