Czech Republic to raise quotas on foreign workers

The quota of qualified workers that can be admitted to the Czech Republic from Ukraine each year will rise from 19,600 to 40,000 as of September 1. The increase will cost roughly CZK 100m annually to carry out, but the country's Chamber of Commerce estimates the taxes it and charges it will be able to collect as a result will be 100 times that amount. But the chamber says the increase, while welcome, will not be enough. "Not even this higher quota will satisfy the demand from employers for employees, because according to our analysis we're currently 500,000 people short. Thanks to working foreigners, however, companies aren't having to turn down orders and they're able to maintain their competitiveness by investing into more efficient production," said the chamber's president Vladimir Dlouhy, according to Mlada fronta Dnes. The country's new program for qualified Workers will be accepting applications by companies for workers from Montenegro, Serbia, the Phillipines and India, Kazachstan, Moldavia and Mongolia, with quotas to be set individually for each country.