A third of employees said they are feeling the effects of the current economic crisis in their work. Photo credit: KB / Brno Daily.
Brno, 17 May (BD) – According to a survey carried out this spring by Grafton Recruitment, 38% of Czech workers think that life is bad in the Czech Republic, and half of the respondents have had to start economising on spending due to inflation and rising prices. The survey was conducted online in February and March 2023 with 1,500 respondents from all over the Czech Republic.
A third of employees said they are feeling the effects of the current economic crisis in their work. So far, 3% of survey respondents have lost their jobs, mostly white-collar workers. Others either had their wages reduced (7% of white-collar workers and 11% of blue-collar workers), or their working hours (3%) or job duties (8%) have changed. Only 42% of survey participants agreed that life is good in the Czech Republic. Blue-collar workers are the least likely to agree (25%), and IT workers the most (68%). 38% of respondents think that life is bad in the Czech Republic.
“Undoubtedly, the general increase in prices led to almost half of the employees involved in the survey having to save money, mostly on energy, restaurants and food,” said Martin Malo, director of Grafton Recruitment and Gi Group. “Despite the above-average salaries in the IT sector, respondents from this field save the most on energy.”
Malo added that blue-collar workers are generally coping the worst with the situation. 17% of them mentioned in the survey that they are having trouble paying their bills, and they also most often reported that they will not be able to take a vacation (32%). More than a quarter also spent less on Christmas presents this year, although a similar proportion of employees from corporate services (30%) and finance (28%) said the same. Employees are also starting to save on food (39% of respondents) and car travel (19%).
“The situation could be made even worse by the removal of tax incentives for employee benefits, proposed by the government as part of the consolidation package,” said Malo. “Employers will not be able to afford to provide benefits to the same extent as they do now. The measure would thus have a negative impact on millions of workers, who would lose a number of benefits, such as contributions to sports, culture, medicine or even vacations and children’s camps.”
Even if the results of the survey are not exactly optimistic, they are better than the equivalent figures from Slovakia. A full 68% of Slovak workers say that life in Slovakia is not good. The consequences of the crisis were also reflected more clearly in the experience of Slovak workers; for example, 4% of respondents had lost their jobs, and a fifth experienced layoffs among colleagues. Half of Slovak respondents have started economising, reducing visits to restaurants, energy costs (48%), and food (45%).
“The worsening work climate in Slovakia is reflected in the growing number of Slovak applicants,” said Malo. “In particular, fields such as IT or business services, which also offer the possibility of working remotely, can benefit from this situation and fill their vacant positions, which could not be filled for a long time due to the lack of applicants in the Czech Republic.”
