Czechia Plans to Attract Workers From Portugal & Spain to Fill Labour Shortages

Czechia is planning to attract workers from southern EU countries like Spain and Portugal, which have a higher unemployment rate, in a bid to close its labour shortages.

The plans have been revealed by the Minister of Labor Marian Jurečka, who noted that the country will target qualified and expert workers by establishing close cooperation with local institutions in some southern EU countries that mediate employment.

“We are taking targeted steps to attract these people to our labor market. There are countries, especially in southern Europe, where the unemployment rate is significantly above the EU average. For young people, it can be as high as 10 to 15 percent. We want to bring in people with high competence, particularly in the fields of IT and research,” says Jurečka.

The Minister has revealed his plans while presenting an interactive map of the necessary capacities of the workforce, together with the president of the Chamber of Commerce, Zdeněk Zajíček and the vice president of the Association of Industry and Transport, Milena Jabůrková.

Through this model, the Czech authorities intend to identify the necessary measures that need to be taken in order to fill in labour shortages, in particular in key sectors like IT, and research.

According to data published by Destatis in November 2023, Czechia is the EU country with the lowest unemployment rate, at only 2.4 per cent. On the other hand, Spain has the highest unemployment rate at 11.9 per cent, followed by Greece with 9.4 per cent, and Sweden with 7.9 per cent.

Whereas Portugal has an employment rate of 6.6 per cent, the eighth highest in the 27 EU Member States.

A report published by the European Labor Authority in March last year listed the following occupations as the main ones for which there’s a lack of workers in Czechia:

• Specialist medical practitioners
• Software developers
• Plumbers and pipe fitters
• Nursing professionals
• Nursing and midwifery professionals
• Lifting truck operators
• Generalist medical practitioners
• Electrical mechanics and fitters
• Electrical line installers and repairers
• Building construction labourers
• Building relates electricians
• Bricklayers and related workers

On the other hand, surplus professionals, which find it difficult to find a job in Czechia, are shop sale assistants, and general office clerks.

Figures published by the Czech Statistical Office show that there are over 800,000 foreign workers currently in Czechia, almost 30,700 of whom reached the country in 2023.

This means that foreign workers account for around on-fifth of the total number of workers in the country, which from January to the end of September 2023 was 4.23 million.