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The Hays Salary Guide: Czech labour market back at full speed, companies struggle to find suitable candidates

The Czech labour market is back on track: an increase in demand for new employees has already been visible since the second half of 2014. Companies are now confronted with significant issues when recruiting: talent mismatch is now more visible then ever, mainly in engineering and information technology. Good news comes from Shared services, Construction and Sales sectors. On the other hand, the pharmaceutical and medical sectors are rather stagnating, while the banking sector is experiencing an increase of new employee demand. Overall, companies on the Czech market are more willing to negotiate their expectations and to be more creative in terms of employee reward.

Ladislav Kučera, Managing Director with Hays Czech Republic, comments: “Companies are very much aware of how important it is to motivate new talent and the existing experienced workers. Companies need to work at the development of their young employees mainly in the sectors where it is difficult to find qualified experts. If a company aims to retain its talented people, it also needs to develop a suitable system of employee benefits.” 

According to the survey conducted by Hays Czech Republic this year, the most important employee benefits from the point of view of candidates are: financial bonuses (63%) immediately followed by training and education (61%), the possibility of running a home office (59%), extra-holidays (42%) and the possibility of using discounts for selected products (21%). Further attractive benefits are company nurseries, flexible working time and financial allowances for transport to work. At the same time there are companies that start to offer their employees less traditional benefits such as allowances for hairdresser services in companies where the image of employees has a direct impact on the bottom line, allowances for healthcare (for example dental services) or dedicated space of religious worship. 

Trends on the Czech labour market by industry: 

Engineering, production and industry:

The sector continues to be dominated by the importance of the automotive industry: existing car makers are actually enhancing their production capacities. Another element that is becoming very attractive for candidates is the research and development centres of car makers, where an increase in job demands can also be observed. At the same time companies tend to be more inclined to offer chances to young graduates in reaction to the lack of qualified workers. In general, companies strengthen their internal training programs and put more emphasis on the development of their young workers. The price of a candidate on the labour market in this segment is influenced by numerous factors: the region, the size and origin of the company and the number of years of experience of the candidate. For example, in the case of a quality engineer in the automotive sector the level of salary can oscillate between 27 000 CZK gross salary for a young graduate without experience going up to 80 000 CZK for an experienced engineer responsible for several production plants.    

Information technology:

The field of information technology (IT) is experiencing an increase of both salaries and demand for candidates. Since 2010 till 2014 the salaries in this sector grew by an average of 21% (from 62 000 CZK up to 75 000 CZK for an IT manager) up to 60% (from 25 000 CZK to 40 000 CZK for a programmer / analyst). This is why the level of job interviews has become more challenging today and the demands from candidates increased, mainly from the point of view of technical skills, foreign language competencies and experience in the given IT areas. Good news is that university graduates with a focus on IT can not only find jobs fast – they are also some of the best paid immediately upon entry to the labour market. 

Shared service centres:

The IT sector is not the only one struggling with candidates’ language skills, mainly in spoken form. Similar problems can be noticed in the field of shared service centres, whose number is exponentially growing: in the Czech Republic there are currently some 150 centres, yet in 2015 their number is expected to grow by roughly 15%. Good news is that investors are attracted by the high level of local education and they move to the Czech Republic specific projects in IT, Finance or HR. From the point of view of language skills, candidates must speak English and in the wide majority of cases also a second world language. There is high demand for German and French, but the pallet of languages in demand expands to languages such as Hebrew or Bosnian. Knowledge of some languages such as German, Dutch, Swedish or Finnish can propel a candidate’s price on the labour market by up to 15%.     

Construction:  

One of the sectors that are going through a visible revival is construction. Salaries of experts are growing and candidates are open to change work. The specific thing about the construction sector is that companies in this segment are willing to pay for a candidate with experience from the competition up to 20% more than for a regular candidate. A key position in constructions is project manager, who can earn (bonuses included) up to 2 million CZK per year, depending also on the overall success of the given project.   

Sales and marketing:

Another sector that attracts candidates with potential high rewards is sales. The demand for salespeople remains very high. At the same time companies are open again to recruiting young graduates or candidates without experience. A sales manager can earn, in relation to the industry segment / product / brand from 50 000 CZK up to 250 000 CZK, which shows the wide divide between financial rewards across the sector. Financial services are especially inclined to attract salespeople: the demand on the market for such candidates is higher by up to 50% than over the last few years despite the fact that the number of sales positions in banking decreased over the last few years by almost 45%.   

Finance, banking and accounting:

The financial sector is indeed one of the most careful in terms of new job openings. In 2014 the number of positions has been severely reduced in the banking sector: last year brought almost 25% less job offers in the sector compared to the previous years. The reason can be the optimisation of financial teams, but also the low fluctuation in the sector. The outlook is however positive: in 2015 we can expect growth in terms of the number of work positions. The segment of finance and accounting is not so open to new positions also because employees in such positions are considered to be some of the most stable in companies overall. The optimisation of financial teams led also to the fact that there are less senior positions in banking overall. The new financial roles also cumulated more responsibilities, which led to salary increases for these positions. 

HR, law and administration. Temporary work: 

The importance of the HR positions is growing overall. The management roles in HR are becoming gradually a part of the narrow company management, with HR people taking part in the overall decision-making process about the company development. Salaries are however stagnating and even in some cases decreasing. In administration the salaries for a similar agenda can be extremely different according to the sector: an executive assistant can earn up to 30 000 CZK in the construction sector and up to 50 000 CZK if she works in an international law firm. In terms of temporary agency work, this is no long a solution for blue collar work only. Companies are demanding more often specialists on temporary work, either for time-limited projects or for back-up during maternity leave. 

Pharma and medical:  

The pharmaceutical and medical sector, which was one of the least affected by the economic crisis during the last few years, is now going through significant changes. The sector is stagnating, which leads to four major changes: team optimisation immediately followed by a decrease in the number of new job openings – companies are simply recruiting fewer people than before. In order to meet their needs, companies in this sector are using more and more outsourcing services. Further changes are that candidates have lower demands from companies as they become aware of the situation in the sector and are willing to cut down on their expectations, mainly in terms of financial reward. Candidates are also more flexible in terms of company profiles and product portfolio. In connection with the attempt to be more financially efficient, there are also more opportunities open for junior candidates. 

Find a full version of the Hays Salary Guide 2015 attached.