Unemployment in the Czech Republic Is Relatively Low Compared to the EU, But in the Long-Term Labour Market Poses a Risk

Unemployment is currently one of the biggest challenges for the European society. Within the Europe 2020 strategy, the Czech Republic proposed reforms in order to stimulate employment and labour market.

Reform efforts have focused mainly on increasing the youth employment, employment of women and people close to retirement age through measures in the field of family policy and active employment policy. Reform measures aimed at creating new jobs and promoting economic growth were the topic of the debate co-organized by CEBRE at the European House in Prague on 13th May. “The Czech Republic ranks among member states with relatively higher employment rate and lower unemployment”, pointed out Radek Malý from DG Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. According to Mr. Malý the problem is in the overall economic performance, particularly in low rate of convergence. Štefan Duháň from Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic said that important strategic documents – Employment Strategy 2020 and Employment Action Plan are in the process of preparation by the Ministry. Moreover, Mr. Duháň appreciated the efforts of employers to retain as much employees during the economic crisis as possible, although it brought also negative effects such as rise of youth unemployment forasmuch as companies did not recruit new employees. Furthermore, he sees the problem in low minimum wage which does not force people without work to look for a job. In contrary, Jitka Hejduková from Confederation of Industry of the Czech Republic does not believe that increase of the minimum wage would significantly affect the level of employment. She emphasizes the importance of short-term measures in the field of active employment policy and reform of education system including support for further education, for example by tax relief.

Jaromíra Kotíková from Research Institute for Labour and Social Affairs agrees with the need for reform of education system. “50 % of graduates do not work in their field of study, therefore employers have difficulties to recruit qualified workers”, she explains one of the reasons for high young unemployment. Therefore, she suggests better cooperation between schools and companies, so that employers would be more involved in training of future graduates.