The flow of workers from Ukraine is growing, but Czech firms find this insufficient
As Radio Prague reports, in the first half of 2017 alone, more than 4,000 permits were issued to Ukrainians, whereas in the entire previous year only 2,300 specialists were attracted. The greatest demand on the Czech labor market is for seamstresses, locksmiths, cooks, and bus drivers. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has already had to increase quotas for issuing 'work cards' several times. According to the plan, the quota for 2017 is 10,200 applications for 'work cards'.
'The number of applications we receive is constantly growing. Over the past two years, the flow of applications at Czech embassies in Kyiv and Lviv has increased about tenfold,' comments Irena Valentova, a press department employee of the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
However, despite the aforementioned growth, Czech firms still insist that too few workers come to the Czech Republic from Ukraine. 'The situation is such that Ukrainian workers are quickly snapped up by firms, and their employment is secured for several months in advance,' says Karel Havlicek, chairman of the Association of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Individual Entrepreneurs. 'The result is the formation of queues. The shortage of employees, both skilled and less skilled, is today the main factor slowing down the further development of firms.'
Jan Vizner, head of the Confederation of Employer and Entrepreneur Unions, states that the Czech Republic cannot do without Ukrainian workers today: 'There are no free people left in our country at all. By attracting Ukrainians, we obtain the necessary personnel to fulfill already concluded contracts and orders planned for the future. And enterprises already have plenty of worries with this, as they must ensure compliance with all conditions stipulated by the 'Ukraine Regime' program. This concerns housing for workers, financial resources for paying salaries, and so on – everything that needs to be fulfilled.'