THE AVERAGE unemployment period for Slovaks is over one year, which is the longest period out of all the countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
One of the reasons for such long-term unemployment is the previously centrally regulated economy, which did not develop labour mobility, nor did it motivate people to improve their skills and qualifications in order to be more successful on the labour market.
According to the OECD, black-market work, low education and labour mobility are the main factors influencing the situation, wrote the Hospodárske noviny daily. An unemployed Slovak is without work for 12.5 months on average. The majority of unemployed people are between 35 and 50 years of age, with a slightly higher ratio of women.
