Czech workplaces struggle to onboard international employees. What's going wrong?

A new report reveals that despite the record numbers of foreign workers bolstering the Czech economy and creating the backbone of the present and future workforce, Czech companies are still failing to set them up for success.

According to data from staffing agencies Gi Group and Grafton Recruitment, 84 percent of Czech companies now employ foreign workers, up from roughly two-thirds just a year ago.

The total number of foreign workers in Czechia reached 935,000 last year, an 11 percent increase year-on-year, according to the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs.

And yet 76 percent of those companies offer no structured integration support whatsoever.

"Integration is not a one-off step but a long-term process," says Radka Čechová of Gi Group and Grafton Recruitment. "An initial onboarding session is not enough."

The most commonly cited barriers between Czech and foreign colleagues are the language gap flagged by roughly half of employees and more than two-thirds of employers, followed by differing approaches to work and cultural differences in communication.

Only 18 percent of companies offer any structured support for cross-cultural collaboration. A further 6 percent provide it to managers only.

When companies do invest in integration, it tends to mean training. Only a quarter of employees have access even to that.

While the foreign worker population the report describes skews heavily toward logistics and manufacturing sectors, where 92 percent and 86 percent of companies, respectively, employ international staff, often in shift-based, physically demanding roles.

The report notes that employees who do experience integration support most often point to team-building activities in white-collar settings, while manufacturing workers rely more heavily on staffing agency support.

Čechová adds that existing employees must be involved in the integration process, that they need to be properly briefed not only on cultural differences, but also on the benefits their foreign colleagues bring.

Challenges shaped by cultural and historical legacies mean Czech companies may be less inclined toward the kinds of initiatives (mentoring, open communication, adaptability training) that make integration work in practice.

Czech leadership has historically been shaped by top-down authority structures, a legacy that left its mark on management styles: competition over cooperation, a cultural discomfort with feedback, and less emphasis on the soft skills, motivating teams, giving constructive criticism, that international employees often expect from their managers.

Without stronger beginnings, Czech companies will continue to struggle building the inclusive environments that retain international talent long-term.

"Companies must continuously work with the whole team and actively support collaboration, otherwise the potential of foreign workers will never be fully realized," says Čechová.

Given the bureaucratic and administrative barriers already complicating the process of bringing foreign workers into the country, failing to integrate them once they arrive is a complication the Czech economy can't afford to ignore.