The overall unemployment rate decreased to 4,94 percent in October 2019. Expressed in absolute numbers, the total number of jobseekers was 136,192. However, according to the statistics data from Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family, the unemployment rate was significantly higher in case of two specific target groups; namely in case of youth unemployed and long-term unemployed.
As concluded by the State Secretary of Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic, the forecast of the development for the next few months is not expected to be negative in terms of the unemployment rate. Moreover, the Ministry has been predicting positive trend in the employment rate, despite of the economic slowdown, while the rate will depend also on external aspects, such as Brexit or business relations between the United States and China.
Bank analyst forecasts are assuming unemployment rate close to 5 percent during the year. In fact, there are more than 100,000 job vacancies available at the market and out of that more than 41,000 vacancies are believed to be suitable for young graduates. Based on the geographical distribution, the most vacancies are offered in the western part of Slovakia.
University graduates are very successfully placed on the labour market these days. In general, they are able to find appropriate jobs in a short time. On the other hand, the situation is not as good and supportive for secondary school graduates. The Labour Office registered 6,500 secondary school graduates in September 2019 and 5,500 in October 2019, compared to 277 university graduates in October 2019.
In general, secondary school graduates cannot be placed at the labour market so easily as university graduates. It results from the fact that the structure and the study fields at secondary level do not necessarily reflect the current market needs. Moreover, the content shared with the learners at secondary schools does not truly meet the requirements of the employers.
The Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Family of the Slovak Republic is aware of this challenging situation on the market and therefore has been opening discussions on possible future solutions, e.g. with the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic.
As a partial solution, the Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family provides retraining courses and contributions for employers aiming to empower and support youth employment.
References: https://ekonomika.sme.sk/c/22264756/nezamestnanost-klesla-na-uroven-494-percenta.html
