Labourmarket in Zlín

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic has a lot to offer with regard to the labor market. Out of their 10 million inhabitants, 6 million are of economically active age. 2,7% of this group is unemployed: this makes the Czech Republic one of the European countries having the lowest unemployment rate.

At the same time, demographic data shows that the number of workers under the age of 40 declines. Also, there are many pre-retirement workers. This raises the question: who is going to replace these two groups? The Labor Office already provides help to these risk groups – young and over 50 years old workers. But new welcoming and integration policies might be beneficial for the development of new businesses as well as investors.

Zlín Region

The city of Zlín has a best practice story to draw from regarding the international workers and development of the society. Shoemaker to the world; Tomas Bata was able to attract talented and hard-working people from all around the world in Zlín. He managed to develop the city from around 3.000 inhabitants to 30.000 before the World War II.

Zlín region has a lot to offer talking about high-skilled work and research. Tomas Bata University is attended approx. by 9.200 students (10% international students). There are more opportunities to establish themselves in the region. For example, the Centre of Polymer Systems, as a university unit, provides a top research environment. Companies such as mmcité or KOMA with an export potential are open to foreigners. Last but not least we cannot forget to underline the high level of the quality of life in Zlín region. Green and safe environment along with the commitment of the locals - these are the attributes the region can offer and be proud of.

Czech economic centers such as Prague or Brno benefit from their larger and international well-known status. But, the city and region of Zlín lack this advantage. The population in the region is almost 600.000 inhabitants of whom 375.000 are economically active and Zlín deals with a low unemployment rate of 2,19%. The average gross monthly wage is CZK 28,533 (approx. EUR 1,100). Thus, we can see the difference across the country when we compare to economical centers such as Prague or Brno.
Young citizens have been leaving to live and work in bigger cities and the population is getting older. Zlín region needs to attract new talents not only for high-skilled positions (IT and research) but also for lower-skilled work in sectors where serious shortage exists: healthcare, automotive industry and construction industry among the others.

The share of vacancies for low-skilled employees was very high in 2018. We have been fulfilling the lack of workforce for these positions by attracting employees from abroad (EU, EEA and third countries). In the Zlín region 11,362 foreigners are employed and 1,853 foreign workers work on a trade license in Zlín. Most of them come from neighboring Slovakia, then Hungary, Ukraine, Vietnam, Romania and Poland. However, the major increase of employed foreigners did not prove to have any significant effect on the number of vacancies offered.  
Zlín region has still many challenges, but also many possibilities with regard to the labourmarket. The Welcoming International Talent project aims to transfer experiences from other partner cities to deal with the challenges and possibilities on the labourmarket by attracting and welcoming international talents.

References:

• CzechInvest. 2019. Fact Sheet No.6 – Labor market. Available via this link
• European Commission. 2019. EURES The European Job Mobility Portal: Labour market information. Available via this link
• Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic. 2019. The Macroeconomic Forecast – July 2019. Available via this link
• Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic – Labor Office of the Czech Republic. 2019. Unemployment Statistics. Available via this link