A relative rise in wages paired with the opening of many multinational branches and new businesses beckons foreigners. Research by the Czech Statistical Office (ČSÚ) has found that wages in Czechia are growing faster than in many other West European countries, leading to higher amounts of qualified foreigners coming to Czechia for work.

According to official data, almost 1 million foreigners worked in the Czech Republic as of end-December 2022, comprising some 15 percent of the adult workforce. In 2010, this figure was at just 306,000 and in 2017 it reached 472,000. Just under half of all foreign workers in Czechia are from EU countries.

The influx of Ukrainian refugees since last year pushed EU workers out of being the majority. Slovaks, Poles, Romanians, Bulgarians, and Vietnamese were the next most-common nationalities, owing to the fact that average salaries in Czechia are higher.

Although labor costs in Czechia remain below the EU average (at less than CZK 500 per hour), the country has made strong improvements in delivering higher wages. Between 2012 and 2022, labor costs in Czechia rose by 60 percent. “In 2022, Czechia overtook Portugal in terms of labor costs. … In Czechia they rose 5 percent year on year,” ČSÚ chairman Marek Rojíček said.

Latest available data also shows that both EU and non-EU citizens work most often in the manufacturing industry. For both sets of citizens, the second-most frequent line of work is the administrative sector, and the third-most common industry to work in is wholesale and retail trade. Of all EU citizens, around 23 percent work in “highly skilled” fields, compared with 14 percent of non-EU citizens.

Compiled by the team of CzechTrade office for Baltic countries. 
Source: ČIA NEWS