Survey: 6% of Czech firms to dismiss staff in Q1 2009

Prague, Dec 9 (CTK) - A total of six percent of Czech employers have
announced job cuts for the first quarter of 2009, while three months ago
only one percent planned to reduce staff numbers, results from the Czech
and global Manpower Employment Outlook, published Tuesday, showed.

The survey, which was also carried out among 751 Czech firms at the
beginning of November, shows two percent of firms expect to hire new
employees and 91 percent do not plan any workforce changes in the next
three months.

Manpower continues to register a high demand for employees with technical
education mainly in the technological and service centres, Jaroslava
Rezlerova, Manpower CEO for the Czech Republic, told journalists.

Although some deceleration on the labour market takes place, employers are
still seeking qualified employees, Rezlerova said.

In the upcoming quarter, employers in Prague and Bohemia are not expecting
any significant changes in the labour market, but employers in Moravia are
more pessimistic.

In 7 out of 10 sectors, employers had negative prospects in terms of their
recruitment plans.

Firms involved in transportation, warehousing, logistics and manufacturing
have the most optimistic plans.

On the other hand, firms in the accommodation and catering sector announced
the lowest recruitment plans.

Employers in agriculture, hunting, forestry and fishing recorded a drop in
recruitment quarter-on-quarter, similarly to firms in the production and
supply of electricity, gas and water.

In the global survey, the quarter-on-quarter recruitment prospects are
quite positive although most employers are announcing stagnation.

Employers in Australia, China, India, South Africa, Canada, Columbia, Peru,
Poland, Romania and the USA are expecting a positive development in Q1
2009, while Ireland, Italy, Singapore and Spain have weaker prospects.

Employment Outlook in the Czech Republic:

Source: Manpower