Low flexibility, independence, and male-female disparity make for low job quality in the Czech Republic
The quality of the labor market in Czechia ranks 15th among the 27 European Union countries (Index prosperity, Česká spořitelna’s data analysis project). This is because productivity is low (twenty percentage points below the EU average) and there is low flexibility in employment and use of part-time contracts. In fact, few employee independence is left, where it is the employer who decides whether the work will be in-person or remote, and the time slot.
Inequality in the employment of men and women are also a big problem; in fact, the difference between salaries is 16.4 percent. The fact that employers almost do not offer part-time employment contracts particularly affects women, for whom the lack of flexibility makes it difficult to return to work after or during parental leave. And this is also true for people of retirement age or who are taking care of loved one.
However, the Czech Republic excels in two categories: unemployment, which has long been the lowest in the entire Union, and the number of vacancies, such that there are more job openings than applicants.
Experts say the Czech labor market should also attract more foreign brains to improve its performance. Innovations that can attract, for example, more scientific workers could also help. Foreign experts are one of the many critical commodities that the Czech labor market lacks.
Sources: https://www.camic.cz/ ; https://www.indexprosperity.cz/ ; https://czechia.postsen.com/
Source of images: https://www.kellyservices.it/ ; https://storyset.com/
