Education-job mismatch and labor market in the Czech Republic

Věra Janíková

Development on the labor market (in the Czech Republic only ???) In the last fifty years there has been a significant change in

the relationship between a person’s education and their success on the labor market.

Education ceased to function as an automatic guarantee of prestigious professions and related benefits, such as higher wages, social status or as a tool against unemployment.

This change the status of education has been caused by the universities’ awarding too many academic titles. The labor market is unable to respond flexibly and does not absorb them.

As a result of the devaluation of university diplomas, over-qualification arises, which has been of significant consequence for both the over-qualified and the society (Tvrdý, 2008).

Labor market

The labor market is just like any market, and it is governed by the same economic principles. And yet it is different – there, unemployment occurs. " ( Holman, 1999, p. 264 )

Unemployment rate in CZ (source: Ministry of labor and social affairs; percentage points)

June 2010 8,5 December 2010

9,6

June 2011 8,1 December 2011

8,6

June 2012 8,1 December 2012

9,4

June 2013 7,3 December 2013

8,2

June 2014 7,5 December 2014

7,5

Mismatch on labor market and unemployment

In case the structure – with regard to profession – of job vacancies does not match the structure of candidates/applicants with a certain qualification, a mismatch on the labor market occurrs, together with unemployment of groups with certain qualifications, or certain levels of education.

Number of applicants per vacancy regarding the level of education achieved (Brožíková, 2012)

Education 2008 2009 2010

Without education 0,75 2,4 3,4

Lower secondary education 2,9 13 18,4

Upper secondary education 3 27 16,4

Post-secondary non-tertiary education

5 11 12,8

Bachelor’s or equivalent level, Master’s or equivalent level

4,2 9,2 10,5

crisis 2008

Unemployment rate in 25 to 64-year-olds regarding the level of education achieved – 2005: comparative study (Horáčková, 2011)1. 0-2 II 3-4 III 5-6 (ISCED 1997)

International Standard Classification of Education (1997)

Czech Republic

Austria

Germany

Slovakia

ISCED 0-2

ISCED 3-4

ISCED 5-6

Statistical Yearbooks of the Labor Market in the Czech Republic

present the analysis of the structure of the unemployed with relation to education, and the structure of vacancies with relation to education

main data were obtained at Employment Offices (Job Centres)

Published by Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, Prague

Structure of unemployment in 2013 (Statistical Yearbook … 2014)

Structure of unemployment in the 2013 Yearbook is described in terms of age, duration of unemployment and qualification (education) structure of job seekers.

Job offers – in terms of skill (education) structure of the unemployed – can be compared with the demand (vacancies), which are further divided according to qualification.

The data display a mismatch between the structure of offers and that of the employer’s demand (requirement of the employer regarding necessary education or training).

Selected results of the analysis

Labor market is still affected by the poor performance of the economy. Employers do not create sufficient number of jobs.

The total number of registered jobseekers largely includes the elderly too, the proportion of people aged 50 to 55 is 27,2 % )

On the contrary, the representation of young people under 25 in the total number of job seekers decreased from 18,1 % to 16,8 %.

Placing applicants with lower education remains a problem – 27,5% (ISCED 0-2)

The proportion of apprentices, the largest category in terms of acquired level of education, fell from 41.0 % to 40.4 % .

Slightly increased representation of jobseekers with upper secondary education, and Bachelors and Masters.

Doležalová, G. (2014). Match between achieved level of education and job – 2013. Prague

This analytic study presents one of the options how to assess the success of graduates in terms of employment (positions they occupy).

The study monitors the extent to which the achieved education is applied in subsequent employment.

The study refers to the following categories of school-leavers: graduates from vocational schools and secondary vocational education.

2 exemplary results

Graduates in engineering disciplines do very well regarding the positions they occupy after leaving school.

A significant negative tendency can be observed in graduates from fabrics-processing schools, reflecting the negative developments in the sector, that is its decline. Graduates from fabrics schools also have exceptionally high levels of unemployment.

Correspondence between the field of study and the achieved level of education, and employment in graduates from university

The Czech Republic ranks among countries where the relationship between the field of study and the employment is rather loose; that is, the graduates work more often on positions where a related field suffices.

In the Czech Republic, 4-5 years after graduating from university, about 20% of graduates work outside their fields.

Source: Issue of Employing University Graduates (online, 8.4.2015)

Response of the Government to mismatch on the labor market (2013)

About 1 person in 14 is looking for a job.

Despite this, many employers complain that they has trouble finding enough qualified employees.

The National Qualifications Framework and the Government of Czech Republic want to deal with the mismatch on the labor market.

How?

By means of Active Employment Policy

In 2013, within the AEP, a total of 46,929 jobs were newly created

Most often, the retraining courses were used

What needs to be improved?

jobseekers should get easier access to a wide range of retraining courses, which must comply with current needs of employers.

But it is necessary to take into account, among others:

In most developed countries a significant increase in the achieved levels of education has decreased the value of university degrees.

Overqualification has a negative impact on society and on the affected individuals whose needs are unlikely to be met.

Čihánková, H. (2011).The phenomenon of over-qualification and its impact on human needs. Brno: MU

Structure of university graduates in the Czech Republic in 2008/2009.

Field of study Number Per cent

All subjects81 672 100,00%

Natural sciences5 529 6,8%

Technology18 218 22,3%

Forestry, veterinary sciences3 049 3,7%

Medicine, pharmaceutical sciences5 042 6,2%

Humanities, social sciences12 186 14,9%

Economics22 008 26,9%

Law2 628 3,2%

Pedagogy11 440 14,0%

Culture and arts1 847 2,3%

Thank you very much for your attention

Structure of university graduates in the Czech Republic in 2011/2012.

Field of study Number Per cent

All subjects81 672 100,00%

Natural sciences5 529 6,8%

Technology18 218 22,3%

Forestry, veterinary sciences3 049 3,7%

Medicine, pharmaceutical sciences5 042 6,2%

Humanities, social sciences12 186 14,9%

Economics22 008 26,9%

Law2 628 3,2%

Pedagogy11 440 14,0%

Culture and arts1 847 2,3%

Horáčková, K. (2011). Application of higher education graduates in the labour market in selected EU countries. Thesis. Brno: MU

The high popularity of some fields according to Průcha [2006: 151-152] results in higher numbers of applicants enrolling at the university or faculty than the institution is able to absorb. The result is that pressure is exerted on universities to increase their capacities. However, the author points out that the structure of university graduates depends on the labor market, where, in case of a mismatch between supply and demand for certain skills, may arise tension in the labor market, then the structure of education is reflected in the structure of unemployment according to the type of labor skills.

System of education levels 2011:

0 – preschool education

1 – primary education

2 – lower secondary education

3 – higher secondary education

4 – postsecondary non-tertiary education

5 – short cycle of tertiary education

6 – bachelor programmes

7 – master programmes

8 – PhD programmes

9 – kind of education not listed in any of the points above

Our preferences and suggestions:

To focus on teachers (as a prototypical segment of the Czech labor market)

To create a registry of graduates from the Faculty of Education (of Masaryk University, Brno, CZ), in order to

Keep in touch with the graduates and their professional development in and outside their field of study

Monitor (their needs) for further education both in and outside (foreign language teaching) methodology

Get feedback for designing the pre- and post-graduate curricula (e.g. by means of e-learning)