Illustrative stock photo (source: TASR)
Even though more than 200,000 people can theoretically take a job immediately, there are some positions that remain empty. The reasons for this can be attributed to the employment of some jobless being thwarted by their poor education, the ineffective support of regions and barriers to doing business, according to the analysis published by the Business Alliance of Slovakia (PAS) in late March.
The unemployment rate in Slovakia has been dropping over the past few years, according to PAS. In February 2017, for example, the registered jobless rate amounted to 8.29 percent. The labour offices registered altogether 267,219 jobseekers, of whom 228,665 were ready to take jobs immediately. On the other hand, the state registered only about 48,500 vacant positions, the TASR newswire reported.
Companies, however, often struggle to find new people. Though they invest in and expand their production and create new jobs, there are no people to fill them.
“It is a very serious and growing problem, one of the barriers to business-making and economic growth in Slovakia,” said Peter Kremský, executive director of PAS, as quoted by TASR.
Moreover, PAS considers the unemployment statistics inaccurate as they do not include some excluded communities, particularly Roma. If they did, the number of the jobless would be by some 100,000 higher.
PAS therefore suggests that the government should start measuring the unemployment in Slovakia more generally and also include people who are currently excluded, said author of the analysis Jozef Hajko, as reported by TASR.
One of the main reasons of the joblessness is the inappropriate structure of schools as the education of graduates does not meet the labour market demands. The problem is also posed by regional differences. The labour opportunities and salaries drop towards the more eastern regions, while the jobless rate increases. This also has links to migration for work, Hajko said.
The employers also struggle with a high payroll tax burden, particularly regarding low-income positions. PAS thus recommends reducing the burden by introducing deductions from social payroll levies.
The association also criticises the quick increase in the minimum wage which currently represents 43 percent of the average wage, and warns of the threat of the so-called technological unemployment caused by the robotisation and digitalisation in production, TASR reported.
