 |
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
| Shortfall of qualified workers depresses the Slovak labour market |
| Bratislava, 12.03.2018 |
|
| Experts find a way out by reshaping the education scheme.
In early 2018 the flow of good news about the arrivals of new foreign investors to Slovakia was interrupted by the South Korean company Samsung announcing the closure of one its two local plants in the Trnava Region, citing the lack of workers and intensifying pressure on raising wages as the reason.
The Samsung news can be read in two ways: Slovakia is no longer a country that offers a cheap labour force and the situation on the Slovak labour market has become really tense, highlighted by a six-day strike at the oldest carmaker in Slovakia, Volkswagen in Bratislava, in 2017. While the first realisation is not a new discovery at all, the lack of qualified labour has become a real challenge for Slovakia’s economy and its further development.
“The situation on the labour market in 2017 noticeably harmed the economy of individual companies and thus Slovakia’s economy as a whole,” Luboš Sirota of the recruitment agency McRoy Group told The Slovak Spectator, adding that many companies reached the limits of their staff capacities in 2017. “We expect that this development will continue in 2018.”
Companies are struggling to hire new workers, either to fill positions vacated by those who have retired or for brand new positions as companies expand. At the same time, there are still about 162,000 people without jobs. The reason for this paradox is what has been called a skills gap resulting from a mismatch between what jobseekers can offer and the specific skills demanded by employers.
Employers eager to fill their vacancies are calling for easier conditions for employing foreigners and an education system reform. They are requesting the curricula at schools and universities is better aligned with the needs of companies as they continue to pin their hopes on the dual education scheme. The latter, re-introduced to generate enough workers for manufacturing plants, has not been fulfilling original plans.
The government has responded with facilitating inward migration rules and a distrainment amnesty that would allow people to walk free of their debt arears towards state institutions. These people are currently discouraged from working at the official labour market since their income would be seized by the bailiff. The government estimates that the amnesty could return 40,000-70,000 debt-laden Slovaks to the labour market.
On the other hand, the government has increased surcharges for work during night, weekends and holidays as well as introducing 13th and 14th salaries, making the situation on the market even more tightened.
odkaz na stránku |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Address : Euro-Brew Ltd., Hlboká 22, 917 01 Trnava, Slovakia
Tel. : +421 33 53 418 53, Fax : +421 33 53 418 52, E-mail : info@eurobrew.sk |
|
|
