IFP: Unemployed in Slovakia Are Half As Likely to Find Job As in EU

Bratislava, July 19 (TASR) - The Slovak labour market is plagued by low structural mobility and an unemployed person in Slovakia is almost half as likely to be employed within a year as an unemployed European, the Finance Ministry's Financial Policy Institute (IFP) said on Friday, adding that making the labour market more flexible would increase mobility and job offers, which currently lags behind demand from firms. According to the institute, labour market mobility in Slovakia is the lowest in the EU and the inactive are even four times less likely to be employed in Slovakia than in the rest of the EU. "The probability that an unemployed Slovak will find a job within a year is only 20 percent compared to the European average of 40 percent. Last year, around 30,000 unemployed or inactive Slovaks managed to do so. However, employment itself, due to exits from the labour market, for example, to retirement, increased by only a fifth of this number, which is about 9,000 people," stated IFP. The IFP added that the difference is particularly visible in the regions. While the labour market is overheating in the west of the country, in the east and south the unemployment rate in some districts exceeds 10 percent. Compared to neighbouring EU countries, Slovaks move for work much less. According to the IFP, more flexible forms of employment could also help increase labour mobility. The institute stressed that a major challenge in Slovakia is to improve lifelong learning and by continuously updating the skills of employees it is possible to respond to changing labour market conditions. am/mcs