British Ambassador Matt Field and Czech Vice President of the European Parliament Dita Charanzová
Credit: Matt Field X
Although hardly likely to open a floodgate of Brits, a draft law, if approved could make it easy for skilled workers to move to the Czech Republic to take up jobs.
There is a skill shortage in a number of areas in that country and the Czech Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has revealed that it wants to attract workers from seven non-EU countries.
The seven countries targeted
Apart from the UK, the countries targeted are Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea and the USA.
Taking a pragmatic view, the ministry considers that as well as potentially being highly trained, citizens of those seven countries which have strong economies, are unlikely to want to arrive and claim asylum.
Perhaps surprisingly, the draft bill doesn’t call for any reciprocity as far as allowing these workers to come to Czechia without the need for a work permit or employment documents and it is not yet clear whether they will even require an offer of employment.
The obvious intention is to try to attract well-educated, highly skilled professionals as well as making it easier for Czech business to go out and fill vacancies without having to be bothered by the usual levels of bureaucracy.
Could be in place by July 2024
If this draft is approved by the Czech Parliament, then the new rules (or rather lack of them) could be in place by July of this year.
Currently there are approximately 9,000 professionals from those seven countries working in the Czech Republic, of which almost half are Britons although there are now many Czech professionals living in Spain and the rest of the EU.
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