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The theme of 2018 will be flexibility, the labor market will be affected by artificial intelligence and automation

The persistent shortage of employees will cause higher investments by companies into human capital and automation. Employers will also pay more attention to analyzing the behavior of their employees in order to better understand their preferences to ensure their loyalty. More flexible job offer can also be expected. This results from an analysis of the labor market trends for 2018, which was conducted by HR consulting company Randstad, the second largest HR services provider both in the world and in the Czech Republic.

'In the context of technology penetration practically into all areas of business, the demand for workers with technical skills has been rising,' says Jacek Kowalak, CEO of Randstad Czech Republic.'We are stepping into an era influenced by artificial intelligence, which, on the one hand, will cause that certain job positions will disappear, but on the other hand, it will create new jobs. In these new positions, however, technical skills combined with progressive thinking, flexibility and the willingness to learn new things will be alpha and omega,' he added.  

According to Randstad, among trends for 2018 are:

1. Wage growth and adjustment of non-financial benefits.

2. Development of flexible working models. Flexible working arrangements and a more relaxing working environment will thus become the key to employability and employee retention. 

3. Greater emphasis on the so-called soft skills in the recruitment process. Employers will increasingly focus on "soft" skills when recruiting new staff. In the training of employees, on the other hand, they will focus on "hard", skills. This does not apply to medical, law professionals, etc. of course.

4. Greater importance of technical (STEM) skills. The importance of corporate academies is on the rise. 

5. The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation. 

6. Sophisticated employee analysis as a tool for maintaining people's loyalty. Randstad experts expect a massive boom in the use of advanced analytics and tools for identifying key personalities in teams. 

Attached, please find the Czech version of the press release.