Czechia has seen a sharp increase in the number of foreigners working in the country, with the authorities revealing that more than 82,300 foreign workers were registered at the end of 2023.
According to the data provided by the labour office of Czechia, the number of foreign workers in the country reached a total of 823,945 in December of last year, 30,700 more than in 2022.
Moreover, such a number recorded at the end of last year is 2.5 times more than in 2015, and the increase is mainly attributed to arrivals from Ukraine, Expats.cz explains.
As for the total number of people employed in the country, Czech nationals and foreigners, the Statistical Office of Czechia disclosed that in the first three quarters of 2023, around 4.23 million people were part of the labour force.
Regarding foreign workers, data show that the numbers have steadily increased in the last few years. Of the total 823,945 foreign workers registered in Czechia at the end of 2023, data reveal that 409,800 of them were from other European Union countries.
In addition, a total of 285,545 foreign workers at the end of last year were from Ukraine, making up the largest group of foreign workers in the country. Of the total number of Ukrainians employed in Czechia last year, 149,000 were women, and the remaining were men.
Of the EU nationals working in Czechia, Slovaks made the latest group. Data from the Czech Statistical Office show that 216,000 nationals of Slovakia were employed in the country at the end of last year.
Commenting on the figures, the Minister of Labour of Czechia, Marian Jurečka, said that the population in the country is aging, suggesting that the country will be in need of foreign workers each year more and more.
The Minister further added that it is anticipated that the country will start dealing with shortages in different sectors throughout the country.
In order to deal with current shortages, Czechia plans to attract workers from Portugal and Spain. Earlier in January of this year, Minister Jurečka explained that the country would target qualified workers from these two countries.
He further stressed that they want to bring more skilled workers to the country, especially those working in the fields of IT and research.
