Czech companies squandering chance to hire Serbs

Hospodářské noviny writes that a Czech government program to make it for local companies easier to hire Serbs is not being used by Czech companies. The daily claims that the reason is that many companies don't know about this option, while others simply don't want to hire Serbs. There were high hopes for the program, however, not least because the collapse of the Serbian auto manufacturer Zastava left as many as 30,000 people unemployed. Czech automobile manufacturers aren't interested, or at least the country's biggest two say they aren't. Hyundai's spokesman Petr Vaněk said his company prefers to hire Poles and Ukranians, who share a border with the Czech Republic. "In order to hire Serbs we would have to build living quarters, which we don't want to do because of the problems that automobile manufacturers have with them in the Czech Republic.

Since the "Serb regime" went into effect, just 273 applications to hire Serbs have been filed by companies in the Czech Republic. The retailer Globus made 26 of those applications to fill empty positions in its butcher division. Serbs are also finding work as truck and bus drivers. In general, however, Czech companies are wary of what they see as the complications involved in dealing with the bureaucratic procedures needed to hire foreigners.