Prague, March 8 (CTK) – Many Slovaks sought jobs in the neighbouring Czech Republic in the past two decades, but this is no longer true now that the Slovak average wage has exceeded the Czech one, daily Pravo writes yesterday.
More than 105,000 Slovaks live in the 10.5-million Czech Republic, which makes them the strongest ethnic minority, and Czechs like them most of all, according to public opinion polls, the daily writes.
At present, Slovaks most often come to the Czech Republic to study at universities or accompany their partner, but the number of job seekers has diminished.
In a situation, where the average wage in Slovakia is 2 percent higher than in the Czech Republic, it is far from unusual for Slovak companies to lure workforce from the Czech Republic, Pravo writes.
“The situation has markedly changed since the adoption of the euro by Slovakia [in 2009]. Most Slovaks are no longer interested in working in the Czech Republic. If they want to work abroad, they prefer heading further westwards, which is financially more interesting for them,” Zuzana Lincova, director of the Profesia.cz job server, is quoted as saying.
The largest number of Slovaks live in the east of the Czech Republic, in the regions bordering their homeland, the daily continues.
Two types of employees prevail among the Slovaks coming to the Czech Republic. They are either highly qualified experts attracted by well-paid posts or unskilled workers coming from Slovak regions with a high unemployment rate, Pravo writes.
Slovaks mostly seek Czech jobs in the areas of medicine, construction, catering and IT, and jobs can also be found easily by craftsmen and repairers.
In 2008, the average wage in Slovakia was still 14 percent lower than in the Czech Republic.
Now it is 2 percent higher, but the development has been different in various professions.
In Slovakia, several professions saw their pay extraordinarily increase in 2016, compared with the preceding year. This applies to professions such as service technicians (a 61 percent increase), financial agents (42 percent) and head teachers (29 percent), Pravo writes.
