The crisis has divided Czech companies into thirds, when it comes to how they plan to deal with their existing labor force, according to Hospodářské noviny. A third of the companies in the country continue to hire people, while the second third is spending a good deal of energy deciding on the best way to hire new employees. But the third group of companies is letting staff go, but it’s still unclear how far they will go with this. The final number of people who are laid off will depend on the final level of support companies are offered from the government, but HN there are clear signals, especially from the largest companies, that a cull is coming. At the moment, the unemployment rate is officially still at just 3 percent. But the most obvious indicator is that demand for “outplacement” services that larger companies buy to support outgoing staff in their search for new employment. The daily quotes a data analyst from LMC, the company that runs two of the biggest online employment portals Jobs.cz and Prace.cz. “The drop is definitely coming, but it won’t show up in the numbers for another month to three months,” he said. He said many people are still in their three-month severance period while in some cases, companies are waiting to make their move.
