The European Commission, in collaboration with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), provided technical support to the Czech Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs for outlining a reform of the national labour migration framework. The support delivered through this joint project ending today during the final event “An Approach to Points Based Migration for the Czech Republic” will contribute to better manage economic migration and to ensure that labour migration meets not just immediate shortages but also contributes positively to strengthen the long-term development of the Czech Republic.
Context
Prior to the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic, the Czech labour market was among the tightest in the EU, with labour shortages across employers and across the skills spectrum. The share of unfilled vacancies was among the highest in Europe. In the post-COVID recovery phase, most signs point to a return to a tight labour market and shortages are forecast to increase. In addition to increasing labour force participation, non-EU workers are expected to play a role in meeting skills needs in the future.
To better manage future inflows, to ensure that migration is meeting not just immediate shortages but also contributing positively to strengthen the long-term development of the Czech Republic, the Czech government has prioritised a reform of the labour migration management system.
To achieve this reform, the Czech Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs has requested and received support to design and deliver reform from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support (DG-REFORM) and the OECD. This project was awarded funding through the European Union’s former Structural Reform Support Programme (SRSP) – now the Technical Support Instrument (TSI)) - and ran from September 2020 to September 2022.
Support delivered
- Understand which conditions in the permit regime should be adjusted to favour migrants of highest value for the Czech economy;
- >Determine which migrants should be considered of highest value for the Czech economy, by weighted analysis of different criteria, both demand-driven (occupation, salary) and human capital (education, age, language ability, etc.);
- Introduce a framework for managing selection by implementing the points-based system (PBS) while allowing for regular adjustment according to evaluation, monitoring and changing conditions and priorities;
- Assess the need for initiating accompanying measures necessary to further increase the efficiency and proper functioning of a modernised selection system within the national labour migration framework.
Results achieved
By proposing a reform of the existing labour migration framework, which includes a points-based multi-criterial selection system to be implemented in the immediate future, the Czech Republic will have the opportunity to become more responsive to shortage in key labour sectors of its economy and, ultimately, to position itself as an attractive destination for skilled migration.
More about the project
- Full project description
- Reform Support website
- Labour market, migration and social protection policy page
Details
- Publication date
- 21 September 2022
- Author
- Directorate-General for Structural Reform Support
- Location
- Brussels