Union leaders warn that GDP in the Czech Republic could fall by as much as 8 percent and that the number of jobless could reach 400,000. Josef Středula, head of the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions (CKMOS) told the daily E15 that while mass layoffs haven’t taken place yet, with the exception of the tourism sector, they are likely to be coming. “Even though the government has approved certain some loosening of the restrictions, it doesn’t mean the layoffs won’t happen,” said Štredula. As an exporting nation, he continued, the economy is also at the mercy of the restrictions in other countries. If Germany’s automobile manufacturers remain closed much longer, he said, the number of unemployed could go even higher than 400,000.
