Austria is facing major challenges in the area of business succession. Many longstanding companies are preparing for a generational change – yet finding suitable successors is becoming increasingly difficult. Between 2025 and 2034, around 52,500 businesses will be due for handover. This involves just under 23% of Austria’s employer entrepreneurs and affects approximately 705,000 employees. 

A wave of business transfers driven by demographic change 

In response, the Federal Ministry for Economy, Energy and Tourism (BMWET), together with the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKO), has established a new business succession task force. 

The task force will analyze Austria’s current framework for business transitions and develop concrete policy recommendations and pilot projects aimed at ensuring that business successions are successful and effective also in the long run. 

WU Professor Reinhard Prügl, head of WU’s Institute for Family Business, will chair the task force. Through this role, WU will contribute its longstanding research and practical expertise on family businesses, innovation, and succession to help shape Austria’s economic policy. 

The task force is composed of ten experts from various fields and will work for a period of two years. 

Find out more here (in German)