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December 5th, 2008
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10 Questions

with Dalibor Jakuš
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May 28th, 2008 issue

COURTESY PHOTO
Jakuš predicts another potential worker migration from Slovakia.
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THE JAKUŠ FILE



Job title: CEO, Profesia
Age: 37
Nationality: Slovak
Education: M.S. in artificial intelligence, Comenius University, Bratislava
At a time of near record-low unemployment in the Czech Republic, the Slovak job-hunting Web site Profesia has recently expanded into the country. Founded initially as a side project in 1997, Profesia is now one of the region’s largest employment databases. Profesia’s CEO and co-founder, Dalibor Jakuš, talks to The Prague Post about the skilled-labor shortage and whether Slovaks are returning home.
? What prompted your expansion into the Czech Republic?
Traditionally, approximately 10 percent of offers on our job board in Slovakia came from Czech companies trying to fill vacancies with Slovak employees. Over the years, we’ve built a good relationship with these companies. We’ve also cooperated in the past with major players on the Czech market, such as Jobs.cz and Jobpilot.cz, and we realized that if we want to offer services at levels conforming to our standards, the best way is to start our own job board.
? Unemployment in the Czech Republic is near its lowest point in the past decade. What has contributed to this development?
Over the past years we have seen fast economic growth both in Slovakia and the Czech Republic. One of the main sources of this growth was the entry of foreign investors, opening new factories and creating new job opportunities. Of course, local employers also created new jobs. I also can’t omit the demographic situation, which is bringing fewer young people onto the job market.

? Which sector is seeing its wages rise fastest?

We’ve seen a very fast rise of wages in the IT sector. It’s caused by a severe shortage of IT specialists who can then choose from a huge pool of available positions with local and international companies. Other countries also opened their markets to them several years ago, causing a serious drain on the IT work force.
? We’ve heard a lot about the shortage of skilled labor in the Czech Republic. Is the situation as bad as some make it out to be?
In some areas it has become rather bad and there is no available pool of potential workers. That’s the reason we hear more about importing workers from other countries and we can see an increasing number of Ukrainians, Slovaks and other foreigners working in Czech Republic.
In the short term, it won’t affect the creation of new manufacturing facilities. The peak is probably over. There are problems with labor forces even in countries that seem more interesting for investors. Romania is already importing workers from Turkey. In a sense, we are dealing with a global problem that won’t almost be always solved by moving factories around.
? Conversely, is there a glut of unskilled labor that has a dwindling number of opportunities?
The people remaining unemployed in the current situation can be divided into two groups: those who choose not to work and “unemployable” people with minimal skills and education. We’ve already seen an increased motivation for employers to reach into this second group via special programs, with help from the government.
? Another criticism of the Czech labor market has been a lack of mobility, people unwilling to move for work or change careers. How large a problem is this?
I think the situation is actually improving. For the younger generation, job mobility has become a more accepted option. More educated people traveling for work, even to other countries, has become quite normal.
However, as we see the gradual opening of the labor market in the European Union, we might end up with a strange situation: people who are willing to go abroad but unwilling to move inside the country. It will also be interesting whether the young generation will continue with job mobility as they move toward middle age or if they settle down like their parents.
? If you could recommend anything to the government on how to improve the job market, what would you say?
Honestly, almost in any area, the best thing the government can do to improve it is to interfere as little as possible. I think the role of the government is to provide a good legal framework. Surprisingly, many problems are solved without state intervention. A good example is the declining unemployment rate, which can’t be attributed to any “active” measures undertaken by the government.
? Many locals still find work through state employment offices. What role do you think these have in the future?
Unfortunately state employment offices woul be better named state “unemployment” offices. It is rare for anybody who is not unemployed to use their service. In a way, I see them as a market deformation — they offer the same service as personnel agencies or job boards but are paid for by taxepayers. I think their role should be more in helping job applicants who have problems to compete on the open labor market: disabled people, older people, etc.
? With Slovakia’s increasing wealth, do you find Slovak workers in the Czech Republic are moving back home?
We are recording decreasing interest among Slovak job seekers in working in the Czech Republic or elsewhere. Also, data from the Czech Labor and Social Affairs Ministry shows a slowing growth rate in the number of Slovaks working in the Czech Republic — but the number is still growing.
One of the important reasons for people starting to come back from places like the United Kingdom or the United States is the changing exchange rates, but this is not the case in the Czech Republic yet. Also, Slovaks in the Czech Republic are often working in good positions corresponding to their education and skills and, since they don’t really feel like foreigners, there is no mass exodus.
? Any expectation of what euro adoption, set for 2009, will do for Slovakia’s job market?
It could start a fast increase in salaries. At the moment, salaries in Slovak crowns are growing reasonably, but, at the same time, the crown is gaining against the euro, causing a much higher salary increase when computed in euros. After euro adoption, this additional benefit will be lost. And, if the same trend continues in other countries (e.g. the Czech Republic), salaries in Slovakia will have to rise faster in order to stay attractive. Otherwise, we could see the next wave of job migrants again turning to the Czech Republic or other euro countries like Austria and Germany.
Want your manager to answer our 10 Questions? Contact Paul Voosen at pvoosen@praguepost.com


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