Czech employers predict even more opportunities for job seekers in 2022

According to the latest available data from Eurostat, the unemployment rate in the Czech Republic at 3% is the lowest in the entire European Union (EU average 6.7%). Moreover, Czech employers plan to hire even more employees in the first quarter of next year despite the next wave of the pandemic and its unclear end. This is the result of a regular ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey Q1 2022 among 505 employers in the private and public sectors in the Czech Republic.

According to the survey, more Czech companies plan to hire than to lay off – up to 36% of employers plan to hire new employees, while 23% expect their numbers to decrease, and 35% said they were not planning a change during the first quarter of 2022. Net Employment Outlook – ManpowerGroup’s net labour market index – of the Czech Republic has increased by three percentage points compared to the previous quarter up to +13%.

There are job opportunities in all sectors of the Czech economy, but some are growing faster than others. The strongest recruitment plans for the beginning of 2022 are reported by the banking, finance, insurance and real estate sectors with an index of +50%. Employers in the IT, technology, communications and media, or wholesale and retail sectors are reporting encouraging recruitment plans with an index of +25%.

On the other hand, the weakest value of the index is reported by the non-profit sector (-25%). The manufacturing industry, one of the most important sectors in terms of employment, has reconsidered its expectations to a mild pessimism with an index of minus two per cent. However, businesses in the Czech Republic feel the need to transform and restructure to survive in the post-pandemic world, automate and robotize more, and rely less on manpower. Therefore, it is likely that companies in the manufacturing industry will now focus on their own transformation rather than on recruiting new people.

“The pandemic has fundamentally changed both the market environment and the way we work, recruit and manage employees. Employers in the banking, finance, insurance and real estate sectors are planning to hire the most. Then in the IT, telecommunications and media sectors, along with the wholesale and retail sector. However, the most important sector in terms of employment – manufacturing – has sharply revised its expectations to mild pessimism,”

said Jaroslava Rezlerová, Managing Director of ManpowerGroup CzechRepublic.

Employers in all four categories according to the size of the organization expect an increase in employees in the next quarter. The strongest recruitment plans are reported by medium-sized organizations with 50-250 employees (+19%). Large organizations show an optimistic index of +14%, micro organizations report +13% and small organizations +7%. In terms of the regional comparison within the Czech Republic, Prague turned out to be the strongest region with an optimistic index of +23%. Compared to previous quarters, the index in Prague strengthened by 6 percentage points.

In addition to the labour market index, ManpowerGroup also published its annual Total Workforce Index survey that compares the labour market and its attractiveness for international companies in 75 countries worldwide. The Czech Republic ranked 25th and improved by four places compared to 2020.

Among the advantages that increase the attractiveness of the Czech Republic in the eyes of foreign companies is the high share of highly qualified employees, especially in the field of technology. The combination of relatively low costs in business and a high qualification level and digital literacy of the population is also a significant pull factor. The Czech Republic is no longer interesting only for the manufacturing sector – in the global report, the Czech Republic is perceived as an ideal place for the location of advanced production, R&D centres or IT centres.