Czech companies are ready to employ 5,000 Ukrainians
According to Radio Prague, the proposal to expand the project of bringing in Ukrainian workers is currently undergoing an amendment process. For now, this project, which started in November 2015, only concerned specialists with higher education. Now it will also include people with lower qualifications.
"Employing Ukrainians is essentially becoming a necessity, because without them many companies will go bankrupt, as they will not be able to fulfill orders. There are already first signals that they will have to move production to countries where it will be easier to find employees," notes Vice-President of the Economic Chamber of the Czech Republic Irena Bartoňová Pálková.
According to the latest available statistics from the Labor Office, at the end of 2014, 35,000 Ukrainians were employed in the Czech Republic out of 65,000 foreigners who arrived in the Czech Republic from non-EU countries.
From a survey conducted by the Economic Chamber for the newspaper MF DNES, it follows that 37% of companies are ready to employ foreigners who do not speak Czech. In the case of Ukrainians, this limitation is significantly lower due to cultural proximity. Despite the fact that more than 430,000 unemployed are registered at Czech labor offices, companies have virtually no choice.
How does the government project called "Special Procedures for Workers from Ukraine" actually function? A Czech company reaches out to potential employees in Ukraine, for example by posting an ad on specialized internet portals. Then a selection process takes place. Czech companies negotiate with Ukrainian companies that provide several rounds of video interviews.
So far, 24 Czech companies and 42 employees are participating in the project. The demand from Czech companies is primarily for technical specialties. So far, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, only 15 applications for work permits obtained from university graduates have been approved. However, as time goes on, there is a growing demand for employees with medium and low qualifications.
According to a study conducted by the Economic Chamber, the Czech Republic lacks between 25,000 and 30,000 employees in technical specialties. The joint project of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of the Interior, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic, however, currently envisions the employment of 5,000 people.