Three quarters of Czech construction companies use foreign workers, for more than 90 percent of them the reason is the lack of labour on the Czech market. However, some Czech companies are looking for workers in domestic schools despite the low number of graduates in construction fields. For more than half of the companies, the set migration policy is too strict and hinders the recruitment of new people. This is according to a study of the Czech construction industry in the third quarter of this year, prepared by the analytical company CEEC Research. It involved 112 of the largest Czech construction companies.
“Our construction industry has been suffering from a shortage of skilled labour for a long time and the situation is gradually getting worse. The Czech construction industry cannot currently do without foreign reinforcements,” said Jaroslav Heran, CEO of Metrostav. He also added that workers from less economically developed countries are often willing to work under conditions that are unattractive for domestic employees.
Employing foreign workers brings a number of advantages to companies. For two-thirds of firms, the biggest benefit is flexibility and labour availability, while a further 19 per cent employ foreign workers to strengthen their competitiveness. According to the analysis, 81 percent of the surveyed companies do not experience any negative impact on working conditions and wages of local employees when employing foreigners.
“We employ workers from both European Union countries and third countries. Among the advantages I count the willingness to work overtime or on weekends. We can say that these employees are reliable and show much lower turnover,” said Tomáš Koranda, Chairman of the Board of Hochtief CZ.
The key factors for integrating foreigners into the Czech working environment of construction companies are for 72 percent of respondents language understanding. For 38 percent, the most important thing is that they are able to integrate into the company culture and respect it. For more than a third of respondents, the current migration policy is acceptable and eight percent of respondents believe it is insufficient and should be regulated more.
For example, Wienerberger, a building products retailer, does not use foreign labour. Instead, it cooperates with apprenticeships and vocational schools for bricklayers, roofers, designers and other future professionals in civil engineering. According to Kamil Jeřábek, the company’s CEO, robotization could be a possible solution to the problem of labour shortages in the construction industry.
“Robots are suitable for large buildings with long walls, such as apartment buildings, schools or industrial halls. In the future, we want to adapt the robot for smaller buildings as well. To operate, it only needs an operator and an assistant construction worker to ensure the supply of materials and small linings. The robot is twice as fast as a bunch of masons and can work even at night or in bad weather conditions,” Jeřábek added.
Source: CEEC Research and CTK
