Slovakia
About the EURES Member
Description: Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's mostly mountainous territory spans about 49,000 square kilometres, with a population of over 5.4 million. The capital and largest city is Bratislava, the second-largest is Košice.
In 2024, there were the most vacancies in the public administration, defense and social security sector; industry; transport and storage; wholesale and retail; health and social assistance. There are vacancies for machine operators and assembly workers, craftsmen, service and trade workers, specialists, administrative workers. The information technology sector has long struggled with a shortage of specialists as well as healthcare with a shortage of doctors and nurses. There are also vacancies for welders, truck and truck drivers, bus drivers, forklift operators.
The highest unemployment rate is among people with secondary vocational education and basic education. Most of the workforce is among auxiliary and unskilled workers.
Slovak Republic has a population of 5 428 792. The share of women in the total population was 51.2%. Slovakia’s net migration figure was 995 (5 463 people immigrated and 4 468 emigrated). The population decreased by 5 920 persons in total. The number of employees increased year-on-year in 11 of the 18 monitored sectors of the economy. The development was mainly supported by the increase in number of employees in manufacturing sectors, mostly in industry. In services, the total employment did not almost record a year-on-year fluctuation. Employment increased in all regions of Slovakia. In the first quarter of 2024, employment increased year-on-year by 0.8%, which was the highest value in the last six quarters. The number of employees in Slovakia exceeded 2 601 000 people. After seasonal adjustment, employment rose quarter-on-quarter by 0.2% (compared to the 4th quarter) to almost 2 625 000 employees. The employment rate increased to 77.6%.
In the first quarter of 2024, almost 118 000 Slovak citizens travelled for work abroad, which was by 1% less than a year ago. They were mainly employed in construction, industry and health and social work activities. Most of them came from Prešovský kraj (more than 31,000 people), Banskobystrický kraj (more than 18,000 people), as well as Žilinský kraj (almost 18,000 people).
The number of people without work at the end of 2023 decreased, thanks to which the unemployment rate dropped to 5.6% on a quarterly basis, and fell below 6% on annual basis for the first time.
The automotive, electrical and engineering industries have a dominant position in Slovakia. The information and communication technology sector and the shared and business service centers sector also played an important role. The largest employers in Slovakia include: Železnice SR; Slovenská pošta, a.s .; VOLKSWAGEN SLOVAKIA, a.s .; U.S.Steel Košice, s.r.o .; Kaufland Slovak Republic v.o.s .; TESCO STORES SR, a.s .; Železničná spoločnosť Slovensko, a.s .; Lidl Slovak Republic, v.o.s .; Railway company Cargo Slovakia, a.s .; IBM International Services Center s.r.o .; Schaeffler Kysuce, spol. Ltd.; Schaeffler Skalica, spol. Ltd.; BILLA s.r.o .; PCA Slovakia, s.r.o .; Kia Slovakia s.r.o .; Všeobecná úverová banka, a.s .; Tatra banka, a.s .; ZF Slovakia, a.s .; AT&T Global Network Services Slovakia, s.r.o .; Continental Matador Rubber, s.r.o .; Železiarne Podbrezová a.s .; Jaguar Land Rover Slovakia s.r.o. and others.
Depending on the type of qualified position, employers require their future employees in particular professional knowledge, language skills, experience, digital literacy. Of the soft skills, they most often require responsibility, communication skills, flexibility, independence, the ability to learn new things, teamwork and more.
Links:
Central Office of Labor, Social Affairs and Family
Portal of the Statistical Office of the Slovak Republic
SARIO - Slovak Agency for Investment and Trade Development
Employing foreigners from outside the EU in Slovakia
Like EU/EEA and Swiss citizens, third-country nationals (foreigners from non-EU countries) also have the opportunity to work in the Slovak Republic according to certain rules and regulations. More information can be found on Employing foreigners from outside of the EU, specific information about the Aid for refugees from Ukraine.
Legal advice, job counselling, free Slovak language courses and financial contribution training or education for both foreigners from outside the EU and their future employers in Slovakia are provided by IOM Migration information centre.
Labour supply and demand are significantly affected by the current situation in Europe and therefore the labour market has changed compared to previous years. The positions that require specialised qualification are technologists, IT specialists, nurses and doctors. High demand is also for manual logistics workers, production workers, bus and truck drivers, couriers and vendors.
Hot Tip: Click here to start a chat with a Slovak EURES Adviser for information about the Labour market and your possibilities in Slovakia!
Availabilities: Every Friday from 08:30 to 11:30 (CET) in English, Slovak and Czech
Text last edited on: 06/2024
