Illustrative image. Most of Slovaks that cross-border commute work in the construction sector. (source: TASR)
When it comes to cross-border commuting in Europe, Slovaks rank among the clear winners. Last year, more than 116,000 people worked abroad.
These are people with a permanent residence in Slovakia, but generally travel to another country for a week to work.
"Commuters make up almost 5 percent of all employed people in Slovakia, one of the highest figures in the European Union," the Institute of Financial Policy (IFP) at the Finance Ministry cites in a report.
Germany still reigns
Most Slovaks, up to a third, go to work in Germany, mainly in construction, industry and agriculture, with services in fourth place.
According to the IFP, up to 40 percent of all cross-border commuters generally work in construction. This is a thing even though Slovakia reports a record number of job vacancies - in August, it was up to 95,000.
Unicredit Bank analyst Ľubomír Koršňák says vacancies are mainly found in industry and in western Slovakia. "In the west of the country around Bratislava, Trnava and Nitra, the labour offices report more vacancies than unemployed people."
A Slovak average is 1.5 unemployed persons per vacant job position. In eastern Slovakia, the difference is bigger. In the Košice Region, the ratio is 6.8 unemployed people to one job position, while in the Prešov Region the ratio is 9.4 to one.
According to state analysts, residents in eastern Slovakia commute across borders the most, followed by those from the Žilina Region.
