Digital skills as a brake. Revolution 4.0 throws Slovakia among the most endangered OECD countries
The main problem on the Slovak labor market is the acute shortage of workers. And for a long time. What awaits us?
COVID-19 mercilessly swept away all corners of the world. They crawled every beast along with the scarecrows of poverty and unemployment. In the European Union, poverty and social insecurity account for more than a fifth of its population.
Almost one hundred million people live in the conditions and they are significantly dependent on employment. The low-labor household is home to more than 27 million people. The recovery of the global economy caused by the coronary crisis is estimated to take up to five years.
Surprisingly, China “ultimate victory” a year ago in the fight against absolute poverty. Nearly one hundred million of its inhabitants from backward rural areas have exceeded the limits of absolute poverty according to government criteria.
President Xi Jinping has stated that he has succeeded in meeting the UN’s commitments to sustainable development by 2030 in a decade. The announcement of the great success described by the head of state as a miracle came at a time of pompous celebrations of the centenary of the founding of the Communist Party.
In others, where miracles do not happen, post-corona evolution equates with many constants, but even more unknowns. Not to mention the country in the heart of Europe.
Rivalry
Proverbs without work are not cakes dominated by every average person, so even with greater apprehension they look to the future. However, Martin Hošták, Secretary of the Republican Employers’ Union, does not anticipate a more significant dismissal: “Since the beginning of the pandemic, the unemployment rate has risen only minimally. A much bigger task on the Slovak labor market is the long-term shortage of workers. “
Nearly 80,000 vacancies show that employers have to literally compete for quality employees and “it will not be this year either.” The registered unemployment rate rose slightly in January, but has remained below 7% for the fourth month in a row.
The trend of high demand in industrial sectors is to continue. The sectors most affected, such as gastronomy and tourism, will hang like a string on the development of a pandemic.
“The development of the world economy in the context of escalating tensions in Ukraine, for example, is also largely unknown. In connection with this, the prices of energy inputs or the prices of industrial producers will be affected, “notes Hošták.
With wages due to inflation and demand for workers, the pressure on their growth will be sufficiently intense. “We are helping an acute shortage of skilled people. Companies literally compete for their future employees and salary motivation is often the only way to fill a given job, “says Hošták, adding that this happens even if the job seeker does not have experience and skills.
Consequently, resources must be invested in its training or retraining, and the consequences of this vicious circle are more pronounced in all sectors.
All this applies to mass-produced graduates of industries every year who are unable to find employment and are not prepared for the real needs of the labor market. The most skilled, on the other hand, prefer to study and work outside Slovakia.
The digital age
The pandemic thoroughly tested the independence and responsibility of many employees. On the threshold of the near future, digital skills will be needed to perform most professions. At least a certain level will be after 2025, which expects up to 92 percent of jobs.
Half of them, if not transformed, are likely to disappear. The Republican Union reiterates not only the need to understand change, but also sufficient preparation. This applies to both employers and employees.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution throws industrial Slovakia among the most endangered OECD countries. Put into practice, this means uncertain prospects for two third jobs. “We are also facing a gradual aging of the population and, according to estimates, already in 2030 a large number of people of working age by 199,000 compared to 2020,” the secretary of the union emphasizes.
The most positions should be added in sectors in which the new technologies of Industry 4.0 directly, resp. increase demand by increasing income and wealth. For example, artificial intelligence, specialized counseling for personal development, professional guardianship or telemedicine.
The information technology sector expects the fastest growth of all industries. In 2030, the European Union could have 20 million employees, an increase of 12 million.