The Czech govt. is counting on foreigners to fill critical labor shortages

The Czech government is proposing measures to increase the number of foreign workers in the country by 20,000 annually to address critical labor shortages in various industries, reports business publication e15.

The plan from the Ministry of Industry and Trade would boost quotas for employment cards and work visas for Ukrainians, Filipinos, and others each year. However, businesses say the increases are insufficient given exceptionally low unemployment.

Construction, for example, is short 60,000 masons and other trades. Transport firms warn of a looming deficit of 25,000-28,000 professional drivers within the next year. Healthcare must recruit an additional 10,000-12,000 nurses to replace a retiring workforce.

The labor crunch has slowed housing construction as well as commercial and industrial projects including roads and highways. Employers have come to rely heavily on Ukrainian workers but funding for post-war rebuilding could draw them home.

While nearly 800,000 foreign-born residents work in the Czech Republic and comprise around 15 percent of the workforce, quotas have not kept pace with demand. Personnel agencies report increasing interest from more distant countries like India, the Philippines, and Nepal to fill roles.

The proposal would raise the quotas for the Philippines under the Qualified Employee Program by 5,000 annually. Limits for Ukrainian workers would grow by 11,000 while highly-skilled visa ceilings, for roles in IT and engineering, would increase by 1,500.

The agriculture and food production industry is urgently seeking up to 8,000-9,000 foreign laborers for primary production. For those industries, the government is counting on reinforcements from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Moldova, North Macedonia, and Mongolia through the Extraordinary Work Visa Program.

The government and business associations are pushing for quicker approval processes, noting that 300,000 job vacancies and a shrinking domestic workforce could cost CZK 150 billion in lost revenue this year alone.