THE NUMBER of Slovaks working abroad, primarily in construction and industry, decreased by more than 23 percent over 2009.
“According to findings by our office, about 129,000 Slovaks worked abroad last year, which was 39,000 people less than one year ago,” Ivan Chrappa from Slovakia’s Statistics Office said, as cited by the TASR newswire, adding that these official data include only persons who had work contracts of up to one year and that the actual number of Slovaks working beyond Slovakia’s borders was higher.
Many Slovaks returned from the Czech Republic and Great Britain where their numbers decreased by 20,300 and 6,100 persons, respectively. In spite of this drop the Czech Republic remained the most popular destination for migrating Slovak workers, as they do not face a language barrier there, and 50,000 Slovaks worked there in 2009. Another popular destination is Austria. Most migrating Slovaks worked in construction (31.2 percent) and industry (26.2 percent) but those working in industry registered the biggest drop last year, down 5.6 percentage points.
The Statistics Office’s annual comparison of the age structure of migrating Slovaks shows that the biggest drop occurred in those from age 25 to34, whose number fell by 21,200 over the course of the year to 47,800 people. The only age category that registered a moderate increase was for workers aged 55 and older.
Regarding educational levels, almost 60,000 Slovaks who had completed secondary education left Slovakia to work abroad last year.
The statistics also show that people from Prešov Region and Nitra Region were a significant portion of those working abroad.
