IN SPITE of the still-high unemployment rate, the Slovak labour market may face a lack of qualified labour within a short time, the Trenkwalder personnel agency warned in late April. It based its concerns on the long average period – currently exceeding one year – which job seekers spend registered with job offices, the SITA newswire wrote.
Based on data from the Labour, Social Affairs and Family Office (ÚPSVAR), the average period of registration was 13.81 months in March. Compared with the same period of 2010 this represents an increase of almost one month.
The group of people who are gradually losing working habits is expanding, according to Trenkwalder. There is therefore a danger that when Slovakia’s economy starts growing in earnest firms will have problems finding suitable employees in spite of the high number of jobless people.
“The bad structure of unemployment in Slovakia will gradually increase the price of those who already have a job,” said Luboš Sirota, from the Slovak arm of Trenkwalder.
ÚPSVAR data confirm the structure of people who are currently without a job.
“The growing economy, after taking up current reserves, will encounter the same problems it faced in the recent past – a lack of appropriate labour,” warned Trenkwalder. Moreover, the local education system is unable to satisfy increased demand for qualified workers by supplying enough quality graduates.
Simultaneously, it is unrealistic to expect the situation to change in the coming months.
“The inflow of new graduates will worsen the situation of those who graduated from schools last year and have not yet found a job,” Sirota said, adding that companies will prefer fresh graduates to those who have failed to succeed in the labour market so far.
