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Career Guide - New 2012 edition Announcement

The Slovak Spectator proudly presents the 13th edition of its annual publication about recent developments in the Slovak labour market, the Career & Employment Guide 2012. The guide is a source of useful contacts and up-to-date content not only for managers or employers, but also for employees and all general readers who want to learn more about the Slovak HR and education sector. (Table of Contents: Career Guide 2012)

You can find the Career & Employment Guide 2012 directly in our Online Shop.
Mikloš remains in his job as finance minister

TASR
Feature Photo President Ivan Gašparovič has said he will not remove Ivan Mikloš from his post as finance minister, despite a call for his dismissal by the opposition Smer party. Smer blames Mikloš for the problems currently plaguing the country’s tax information system. The failure of the system has already cost Igor Krnáč his job as head of the Financial Administration. 22 Feb 2012 More Feature Photos
SME
Right in disarray as election approaches WITH ONLY three weeks remaining until the parliamentary elections, the most aggressive fight for voters is taking place on the right of Slovak politics. The Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ), the party of the outgoing prime minister, Iveta Radičová, and until recently the strongest centre-right party, has seen its support slump in opinion polls to near the 5-percent threshold below which the party would drop out of parliament altogether. 17 Feb 2012 Beata Balogová More from Politics & Society
Spurt in Q4 GDP growth surprises SLOVAKIA’S Statistics Office released some rosier-than-expected numbers for the country’s economic growth for the last three months of 2011, surprising and puzzling economic analysts who are now looking for the reasons behind the 3.4-percent year-on-year GDP growth recorded in the fourth quarter. Much more modest growth had been widely predicted. 17 Feb 2012 Beata Balogová More from Business
Dzurinda Slovak word of the week SMALL political parties are for party apparatchiks, large ones are for the people. When Mikuláš Dzurinda presented this idea at the founding congress of his Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ) in 2000, little did he know that 12 years later he would be leading a party with 5.1 percent in the polls. Long gone are dreams of leading a large right-wing reform party: now it has all come down to just getting into parliament. 17 Feb 2012 Lukáš Fila More from Opinion
Frozen smiles EDITORIAL POLITICAL advertising campaigns reveal what political parties think of their potential voters; what they see as their frustrations, fears and desires. The Slovak National Party (SNS) does not hold the intellect of its potential voters in very high regard, to judge by the billboard campaign it launched recently. 20 Feb 2012 Beata Balogová More from Opinion
Welcome to the Prefab Story! A new book examines mass housing estates in Bratislava Locked MASS housing construction in Slovakia, at least in terms of how it is now generally perceived by the public, was very closely connected with the pre-1989 communist regime, under which the lives of Slovaks were tightly controlled by the totalitarian power of the state. But mass construction of prefabricated buildings for residential housing – the building of huge housing estates – was also an answer to changing social and economic conditions after World War II, new technologies available to the construction industry, and the conviction of many architects of that time that every person had the right to some kind of roof over one’s head. And it was not only Czechoslovakia that responded to these forces in this way: many other countries launched mass construction schemes in the aftermath of the war. 20 Feb 2012 Jana Liptáková More from Real Estate
Alena Klenková
Countrywide Events Music, Theater, Exhibition... Western SLOVAKIA 20 Feb 2012 Zuzana Vilikovská More from Culture & Society
Sme - Tomáš Bemedikovič
Real income falls in 2011 Inflation was higher than the average increase in nominal wages There was no extra spending power for most workers in 2011 as inflation ate away at nominal wage increases. The outlook for 2012 is for tamer inflation but since the Slovak economy is not expected to generate many new jobs the high level of unemployment and employers’ concerns about another economic crisis will put a brake on wage growth. 20 Feb 2012 Jana Liptáková More from Career and HR
Courtesy of Peter Horanský
Unemployment hits new high Search for solutions awaits new government Slovakia’s unemployment rate in December 2011 hit a seven-year peak and labour market analysts’ forecasts for 2012 are rather dismal. While employers will continue to seek employees with expert skills and experienced managers who can generate genuine business growth, no effective solution has yet been found for the legions of Slovaks who have low levels of education or those who have been unemployed for a long period. Slovakia’s unemployment rate was 13.59 percent in December 2011, its highest level since July 2004 when the rate stood at 13.65 percent. The number of jobless people ready to immediately take up jobs in December stood at 362,428, an increase of 6,773 persons, or 0.26 percentage points, compared to November 2011. Compared with December 2010, the number of unemployed people increased by 27,525 according to the Labour, Social Affairs and Family Centre (ÚPSVaR). 20 Feb 2012 Jana Liptáková More from Career and HR
Sme - Tomáš Benedikovič
Many changes flow from revised Labour Code Employers welcome more flexibility while unions remain critical Locked Slovakia’s revised Labour Code took effect on September 1, 2011 with the stated goals to bring more flexibility in employment relationships, to create more new jobs and to better protect the most vulnerable employees in the labour market. But the brief time since the changes took effect, the deteriorating economic environment and the possibility that the code may be revised again after the March 10 parliamentary elections, makes it nearly impossible to assess whether the revised code will accomplish its stated objectives. 20 Feb 2012 Jana Liptáková More from Career and HR
Flexible working arrangements, focus on working time Legal view If you ask employers what they would like from an amendment to the Labour Code, most of them would probably reply: More flexibility. The last big amendment, in force since 1 September 2011, has indeed brought more flexible working arrangements to Slovak employment relations. Time will tell how employers make use of this to adapt to a rather difficult economic situation. Working time arrangements especially, if implemented properly, can be very effective. 20 Feb 2012 More from Career and HR
Retained executive search is a true strategy consulting discipline Advertorial Executive search services have been introduced to our market shortly after the changes in 1989, so we now have more than twenty years of experience with them. One would assume that after so many years the service providers would respect how to go about providing the search service and that clients would easily distinguish between retained executive search companies and other search (mostly contingency based) companies.Surprisingly there is still limited awareness of the differences on both sides – consultants as well as clients. Frequently asked questions often result from a lack of understanding of the different processes involved in retained and contingency searches. 21 Feb 2012 More from Career and HR
Opportunity to complete MBA program and get the degree (MBA Diploma) from American University ADVERTORIAL Weekend Executive Master of Business Administration program (WEMBA) at Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Management, is an international American MBA program fully accredited in boththe United States and Austria. Established in 1996 in cooperation with Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business University of Pittsburgh, nowadays is run jointly with Webster University St. Louis, Missouri, USA - Vienna campus. WEMBA program provides you with highly relevant and practical knowledge, real world applications and company specific projects. Program is dedicated to existing as well as potential managers.Courses are scheduled for every other weekend (Friday, Saturday)and taught in English by American and Slovak instructors. All courses are offered in Bratislava, to allow participants to earn an American MBA degree without interrupting their career. 21 Feb 2012 More from Career and HR
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Quote of the Week
“Direct democracy is a whip for corruption.” Nora Mojsejová, leader of the Free Word Party (SSS) and a reality TV star, who is herself being prosecuted for fraud and tax evasion.