While some employers in the Czech Republic are looking for employees, others are laying them off
As Radio Prague notes, the Czech labor market has currently lost tens of thousands of workers from Slovakia, Poland, and Romania. "We have major staffing problems. EU citizens, whom we did not consider foreigners under conditions of free movement of people, have unexpectedly turned into foreigners," said Vojtěch Kostiha, press secretary of the construction holding Metrostav, in an interview with Deník N. The company, besides Czech citizens, always employed many Poles and Slovaks, who have now gone home.
At the same time, while Poles and Slovaks can still delay returning home, the situation for Ukrainians has become more complicated. On March 28, Kyiv completely suspended transport links with other countries – Ukrainian citizens can now return home only by car or on foot through border crossings. Therefore, many Ukrainians had to hastily pack up and head home before the border closure, using specially organized flights and trains.
"In just one of our databases, we see the disappearance of hundreds of workers," says Gabriela Hrbačová, an employee of the staffing agency Hofmann Personal, pointing to the outflow of Ukrainians and Serbs from the Czech labor market. Besides the construction sector, workers have disappeared in logistics and low-skilled jobs that Czechs typically do not take.
The negative consequences of the disappearance of labor could have been even more severe if the Czech government had not extended visas for foreigners already working in the Czech Republic.
At the same time, Deník N notes, the situation remains ambiguous – while some companies are suffering losses from the disappearance of foreign workers, others are laying them off. This primarily applies to hotels and restaurants, which were forced to close during the quarantine, as well as small factories whose products have seen a drop in demand. "Differences in employment are observed both by region and by economic segment," explains Jiří Holbrštát, an employee of the staffing agency Manpower.
"According to statistics, the number of applications to employment offices is rising, but there remain vacancies for which it will be difficult to find candidates," the specialist explains. According to Holbrštát, recruitment for supermarket jobs is going well. At the same time, there is low interest from both Czechs and foreigners in working in manufacturing – for example, in the automotive industry.
The shortage of permanent staff is partially compensated by attracting seasonal workers who, during the quarantine period, are unable to pursue their usual activities. According to the Manpower employee, people's willingness to take jobs far from home has decreased. For foreigners, it is difficult to change jobs due to legal regulations.
Experts predict an even more complicated situation in the coming months. Entrepreneurs fear that the government will ease quarantine measures within the Czech Republic but keep borders closed, preventing the attraction of labor from abroad. "We have planned for companies to receive hundreds of workers in June, but we are not sure they will be able to travel to the Czech Republic," says Holbrštát, adding that in this case, companies will have to reduce production volumes.
At the same time, besides legal workers, thousands of illegal workers are employed in the Czech Republic. "Immediately after the restaurants closed, people appeared offering their employees on the labor market. In a normal situation, they would simply take unemployed foreigners abroad, but now that is impossible, and such companies offer their workers at low prices," explains the head of the Association of Employment Agencies, Burkovič, according to whom thousands of illegally working foreigners have found themselves literally cornered in the Czech Republic.
These facts are also highlighted by Josef Středula, chairman of the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions. "There are many methods of manipulating such employees. They are threatened with transfer to a worse job, and they may also fear being evicted from their dormitories. Exploiting the economic dependence of such workers is indeed very easy in a situation where they cannot return home," says Středula, who reported that the trade unions have already informed the Ministry of the Interior about the situation.