Czech industry is counting on Ukrainian workers
Export companies fear that disruption of the delivery schedule will lead to huge penalties and undermine the reputation they have built over years. According to Vice President of the Association of Exporters and director of an electric motor factory in the city of Nachod, Otto Danek, the complexity of the situation forces exporters to put maximum pressure on the government to ease the conditions for "importing" labor from Ukraine and Belarus.
"Industry is failing to fulfill orders, having reached the limit of its capabilities. At the same time, there is a shortage not only of employees with secondary and higher technical education, designers, technologists, middle managers. There are also not enough workers. Currently there are 100,000 vacancies, of which 70,000 are in blue-collar jobs," emphasizes Otto Danek.
Unemployment in the industrial segment of the economy ranges from 2.6 to 3.8%. "According to experts, 5% of the population will never work, even if forced. Therefore, we are negotiating with Foreign Minister Lubomir Zaoralek regarding permission to 'import' foreign workers from culturally close countries such as Ukraine and Belarus. Interior Minister Milan Chovanec has already promised to simplify this process," said the vice president of the Association of Exporters.
When asked by the newspaper Právo whether the influx of refugees into Europe can help Czech industry solve the problem of staff shortages, Otto Danek replied: "Among the migrants from Afghanistan and other countries from which this flow comes, we will find neither specialists nor labor. The influx of migrants will not solve our labor shortage problem, so we are turning to third countries that are culturally close to us, with whom we already have work experience and with whom we can communicate."