Unemployment in the Czech Republic has risen to 4.5%. A partial explanation is given by fewer recruitments in the summer. Mostly, it is explained by the fact that the Czech labour market is changing faster than society is able to adapt to it.
"It's not a crisis, it's a wake-up call. Whoever understands it first and takes action will win. Whoever waits for the 'return of the good old days' will lose, says Michal Španěl from the employment portal JenPráce.cz.
There were 333,624 people without work at the end of the holidays in Czechia, roughly 4,000 more month-on-month. Companies offered 95,117 vacancies, which was a slight decrease compared to July. In the Czech Republic, there is one of the lowest unemployment rates in the EU. On the other side, companies are desperately looking for qualified people.
August was partly influenced by the end of summer contracts in the tourism and construction industries, as well as a drop in exports due to the problems of the German economy and the related layoffs in industry. Companies need data analysts; we produce humanities graduates.
It is important now to invest in education and better retrain existing employees than to look for new ones. Furthermore, companies should be open-minded and offer employees hybrid work and flexible working hours.
The highest unemployment rate was in the Ústí Region in August, at 6.7 per cent. The lowest unemployment was in Prague, where 3.5 per cent of the population was looking for work.
Michal Španěl sees traditional industries such as metallurgy and heavy industry, routine administrative positions and unskilled manual work among the most endangered fields. On the contrary, the most sought-after professions are now software developers, for whom there is 18% more demand from employers than last year. Companies are offering more and more positions, but they are looking for specific skills. It is not a problem to find a job; the problem is to find the right job.
