Under the new plan, Czechia aims to welcome 24 IT specialists from India, 650 highly qualified workers from China, and another 120 from other Asian countries. In contrast, the current quota for 120 low-skilled workers from Africa is set to be scrapped. However, 420 places for African scientists and experts will remain.

The changes come as part of an amendment prepared by the Interior Ministry, targeting long-term visas (those lasting over 90 days) for participants in labor migration programs. These programs are designed to bring in talent for sectors like science, technology, and remote digital work.

Business reaction

The business community has broadly welcomed the shift. But many say it still falls short of solving the country’s deepening labor shortage. Around half of Czech companies already rely on foreign workers from outside the EU, most often Ukrainians and Filipinos.

In China, for example, there are currently no official quotas for employment cards in cities like Beijing and Shanghai. Yet demand is growing. Applications rose from 235 in 2022 to over 1,300 last year. According to the Interior Ministry, most of this growth comes from applicants with low qualifications, often seeking work as kitchen staff or cooks in small eateries catering to their own communities. The ministry has proposed an annual quota of 1,170 for China, with most of those spots going to skilled workers.

The unskilled worker dilemma

Companies warn that focusing only on high-skilled migrants misses a crucial point: the economy also runs on unskilled labor.

There’s a shortage of 500,000 drivers across Europe,” said Jakub Trnka, CEO of Raben Logistics, speaking on Czech Television. “This is a profession that’s usually filled by foreign workers.”

Construction firms echo that concern.

Tomáš Zavřel, director of Trigema Building, says the administrative burden of hiring from abroad, especially from countries like the Philippines, is so heavy, many companies don’t even bother. “The red tape is overwhelming,” he says.

Among the bureaucratic hurdles that companies face is that foreign workers must present criminal background checks from every country they’ve lived in over the past few years, a process that businesses say is far more demanding than requirements in neighboring countries.

A shrinking population without migration

Long-term demographic trends also add urgency to the debate. Without migration, the Czech population is projected to shrink to 7.5 million by the end of the century—from just over 10 million today.

Presently over one million foreigners live in Czechia. They are vital to the economy. Without them, the labor market would be short of nearly half a million workers. One in four foreign workers holds an unskilled position, and another quarter work in manufacturing or machine operations. Others fill crucial roles as technicians, tradespeople, and specialists.

The healthcare sector also leans heavily on foreign staff. Around 6 percent of healthcare workers (some 15,000 people) come from abroad, mostly from Slovakia and Ukraine. At Prague’s General University Hospital alone, 700 staff members are foreigners. Of those, 240 come from non-EU countries.

Who is coming to Czechia and where are foreign workers settling

Ukrainians make up the largest foreign community in Czechia, with over 570,000 residents. They’re followed by Slovaks, numbering around 120,000. Among more distant countries, Vietnam leads with a population of about 70,000. Other notable communities include Mongolians, Filipinos, Indians, Kazakhs, and Chinese—each numbering over 10,000.

Foreign nationals tend to settle in big cities or near large industrial hubs. In Prague, every fourth resident is a foreigner.

Prepared by the team from the foreign office CzechTrade Egypt.
Source: Radio Prague International, https://english.radio.cz/czechia-shift-foreign-worker-quotas-favor-skilled-professionals-8854222
Author: Daniela Lazarová