Czech gov't raises quota for fast-lane work permits for Ukrainians, Mongolians, Filipinos

JOBS OPEN FOR PHL APPLICANTS


PRAGUE - The Czech government agreed on Wednesday to double the number of Ukrainians it was allowing in as fast-track migrant workers to 19,600 per year, aiming to help firms struggling to find workers and facing pressure from the workforce for wage hikes.
The decision, raising the quota for easy access to the Czech market from 9,600 last year and 3,800 before, is in contrast to a hostility to would-be asylum seekers from predominantly Muslim countries whom many Czechs see as security risks.
The Czech Republic has the lowest unemployment rate in the European Union, 2.3 percent under Eurostat methodology, and companies see labor shortage as the biggest business obstacle.
"We are reacting to employers' problems with finding labor force," Foreign Minister Martin Stropnicky said on Twitter.
He said the plan would also apply in smaller extent to workers for Mongolia and the Philippines.
The Czechs are facing an EU legal suit for refusing to accept asylum-seekers under the union's system meant to relieve countries hit most by immigration.
The Czech Republic already has 117,000 legally residing Ukrainians, the largest foreign community in the country, followed by Slovaks and Vietnamese. Ukrainians are also the most frequent nationality among foreigners found to be in the country illegally.
Ukraine, which is not in the EU, has been a favored source of migrant workers for the Czech Republic due to its geographical proximity and cultural and linguistic links.
Ukraine's own economy has suffered since the fall of the Soviet Union from mismanagement and corruption, and has been badly damaged by a nearly four-year conflict in the east of the country with separatists backed by Russia.
The Czech annual quota for easy access was already raised last year from previous 3,800.
The country of 10.6 million people had 216,629 job vacancies in December, the highest on record, versus 259,929 available unemployed workers.
Manufacturing is a key driver of economic growth in the Czech Republic, with foreign-owned firms feeding into multinational supply chains in the auto, machinery and electronics industries. —Reuters

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

POPCOM, gagamit ng ‘digital platforms’ para pagtibayin ang mga ugnayang pampamilya

Mas pinalalawig ng Komisyon sa Populasyon at Pagpapaunlad (POPCOM) ang adhikain nitong pagpapalaganap at pagpapabuti ng pakikipag-ugnayan ng mga nakakatandang Pilipino sa kanilang mga anak na nagdadalaga at nagbibinata. Nitong Setyembre 21, ang POPCOM ay nagsagawa ng isang “parent-teen talk webinar” gamit ang Zoom, kung saan ang isang “interactive program” ang nagbigay ng naaayon na kaalaman at kasanayan sa mga magulang, habang tumulong ito sa mga anak na teenager na maabot ang kanilang buong potensyal. Hinikayat din nito ang mga nanay at tatay na sumali sa malayang usapan, lalo na sa mga usapin ukol sa sex at sekswalidad, na nakikitang makakatulong upang bumaba ang mga bilang ng mga pagbubuntis sa hanay ng mga kabataan. Maaaring mapanood ang webinar sa https://youtu.be/lZ9jrJCjYas. Ayon kay Ikalawang Kalihim (Undersecretary) Juan Antonio A. Perez III, MD, MPH, “ang webinar ay naging isang tagapag-simula at ‘padaluyan’ ng pag-uu
Read more

UP Diliman Professors Share Scientists’ Procurement Struggles at Senate Hearing

By Harvey Sapigao Senate hearing of the revised procurement law (Photo credit: Senate of the Philippines) College of Science (CS) Dean Giovanni Tapang held up a little white device as he finished his presentation. “This is a ₱150,000 component,” he described. “Isa lang gumagawa nito sa buong mundo, pero ang hirap pilitin sila na magregister sa PhilGEPS,” he continued, referring to the requirement that foreign companies must first register to the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS) before they can sell products to local scientists. Marine Science Institute (MSI) Deputy Director Dr. Irene Rodriguez explained that the small device is a resin that filters metals in water. “May budget tayo,” she said, “pero ang problema ko ay ‘yung resin na ito.” This and other bottlenecks brought about by the procurement law, or the Government Procurement Reform Act (RA 9184), slow down research and development in the country. UPD leaders were invited to the Senate he
Read more

Gaza war rages into fourth month as Blinken tours Middle East Adel Zaanoun with Ilan Ben Zion in Jerusalem, --- Agence France-Presse

The Israel-Hamas war raging in Gaza entered its fourth month on Sunday as the army again pounded the besieged Palestinian territory and US top diplomat Antony Blinken was back in the region seeking to avoid a wider escalation. Israeli airstrikes overnight and early Sunday killed at least 64 people in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory, said its health ministry. It said two journalists were killed when their car was struck. The ministry, medics, and witnesses identified them as Mustafa Thuria, a video stringer for Agence France-Presse, and Hamza Wael Dahdouh, the son of Al Jazeera's bureau chief in Gaza who earlier lost his wife and two other children in an Israeli strike. Israeli bombardment also claimed other civilian lives in the southern city of Khan Yunis and in the Rafah area near the Egyptian border, where many of the territory's displaced people have sought refuge, AFP correspondents reported. Relatives were mourning the dead at Khan Yunis' European Hospital, am
Read more