A recent study highlights differences in the reasons for hiring foreigners for manual and non-manual jobs in the Czech Republic. While demand for manual foreign workers is driven by a shortage of Czech workers willing to accept the wages offered, demand for non-manual foreign workers is mainly due to a lack of Czech workers with the required qualifications. Thus, diverse strategies are used to attract foreign employees, which impact on their quality of work.
About the research
In 2007, the Research Institute for Labour and Social Affairs (Výzkumný ústav práce a sociálních věcí, RILSA) and Masaryk University Brno (Masarykova univerzita) conducted research on the employment of foreign workers. The study was carried out as part of a long-term project entitled ‘Migrant people in the Czech Republic – the situation in the labour market and social integration’ (Migrující osoby v České republice – postavení na trhu práce a sociální integrace); the research was funded by the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (Ministerstvo školství, mládeže a tělovýchovy, MŠMT) within the framework of the National Research Programme II (Národní program výzkumu II, NPV II).
Within the scope of the study, a random sample of 1,002 employers who had legally employed foreigners in the Czech Republic in 2007 were chosen from official databases. In particular, the survey questionnaire aimed to identify the following elements:
- structure and characteristics of employers of foreign workers;
- employers’ reasons for hiring foreign workers;
- methods of seeking and recruiting foreign labour;
- characteristics of job positions held by foreign workers;
- relationship between labour integration and social integration.
Main findings
The majority of legal foreign workers (69%) are employed in manual positions where job quality is low and unattractive for Czech workers. These jobs are very unstable with a high level of working time flexibility, low wages and little access to training and education. Manual workers are at a disadvantage, not only in comparison with non-manual foreign workers but also with Czech labourers. At the same time, a significant amount of manual labour is performed in the Czech Republic by highly qualified workers from abroad – some 10% of men and 14% of women in this category have a university education.
Forms of employment
When employing foreigners in manual jobs, employers often pursue the policy of flexibly adapting the number of workers to demand requirements, resulting in a relatively high preference for seasonal and fixed-term jobs (Table 1).
Table 1: Length of employment relationship preferred by employers when hiring foreign workers (% of employers)
| Q: What form of employment of foreign workers do you prefer in your organisation in terms of duration? |
| | Manual labour | Administrative, technical and accounting work | Specialists | Managers |
| No. of employers | % | No. of employers | % | No. of employers | % | No. of employers | % |
| Short-term (seasonal) | 84 | 12.9 | 5 | 2.2 | 10 | 3.1 | 0 | 0 |
| Time restricted (for a fixed term) | 229 | 35.1 | 59 | 26.3 | 97 | 29.7 | 33 | 20.2 |
| Long-term (for an indefinite period) | 371 | 56.9 | 170 | 75.9 | 244 | 74.6 | 141 | 86.5 |
| Total number of employers | 652 | - | 224 | - | 327 | - | 163 | - |
Note: In terms of their duration, some respondents simultaneously chose several preferred types of employment relationship.
Source: Rákoczyová, M., Trbola, R., Vyhlídal, J. and Kofroň, P., 2007
Almost 40% of employers of manual foreign workers stated that none of these workers are employed for an indefinite period. Overall, 27% of employers noted that this was also the case among foreign workers in administrative and specialist positions while 18% gave this answer regarding foreign managers. At the same time, fixed-term employment relationships are not particularly widespread in the Czech Republic – according to a Labour Force Survey of the Czech Statistical Office in 2007, such employment relationships concerned only 8.5% of all employees. More restricted access to permanent jobs corresponds not only to the preferences of employers, but also to the administrative regulation of foreign employees – for example, work visas are issued for a limited period.
Access to education and training
Further professional training and education – apart from the required induction training to do the work in question – are less often available to employees in manual jobs. Moreover, foreign labourers are not only disadvantaged in comparison with workers in other types of jobs, but also compared with manual labourers of Czech origin. The employers surveyed more frequently provide training to local manual workers (37% of employers always provide such training or usually do so) than they do to foreign workers occupying similar positions (23%). In terms of non-manual jobs, no disadvantage was noted for foreign workers in comparison with Czech employees.
Table 2: Further professional training for foreign employees (% of employers)
| Q: Do you provide foreign workers with different professional training/educational programmes apart from induction training? |
| | Manual labour | Administrative, technical and accounting work | Specialists | Managers |
| No. of employers | % | No. of employers | % | No. of employers | % | No. of employers | % |
| Yes, always | 59 | 9 | 44 | 18.9 | 58 | 17.2 | 34 | 20.4 |
| Usually, yes | 93 | 14.2 | 75 | 32.2 | 112 | 33.2 | 61 | 36.5 |
| Usually, no | 188 | 28.7 | 53 | 22.7 | 53 | 15.7 | 23 | 13.8 |
| No | 314 | 48 | 61 | 26.2 | 114 | 33.8 | 49 | 29.3 |
| Total employers | 654 | 100 | 233 | 100 | 337 | 100 | 167 | 100 |
Note: The data relate to the provision of training other than the initial induction training to do the job in question.
Source: Rákoczyová, M., Trbola, R., Vyhlídal, J. and Kofroň, P., 2007
Time flexibility
The survey results generally show a high level of working time flexibility among foreign employees. A substantial proportion of foreign workers carry out overtime work (76% of employers say that their foreign employees do so at least sometimes) and work outside standard working hours – namely at weekends (72%), on public holidays (61%) and at night (32%). On the other hand, overtime work and work outside standard hours is compensated to an appreciable extent by the accommodating attitude of employers to workers’ needs in terms of flexible working hours. In total, 85% of employers stated that they allowed at least some foreign workers one form of flexible working time. For workers in non-manual jobs, this particularly concerns the option of adjusting the beginning and end of working hours. For manual labourers, it involves having the opportunity to accrue part of a workday or an even longer period of time through working overtime.
Commentary
Surveying employers only allows for a partial insight into the issue of job quality for foreigners. Consequently, in the next phase, the research will continue with qualitative interviews with foreign workers on this subject.
Reference
Rákoczyová, M., Trbola, R., Vyhlídal, J. and Kofroň, P., Zaměstnavatelé zahraničních pracovníků v České republice a jejich role v procesu sociální integrace – Analýza poptávky po zahraniční pracovní síle (in Czech, 1.21MB PDF) [Employers of foreign workers in the Czech Republic and their role in the process of social integration – An analysis of the demand for foreign labour], Prague, RILSA, 2007.
Miroslava Rákoczyová, Research Institute for Labour and Social Affairs (RILSA)