Randstad’s Workmonitor survey shows that most Czech employees find job satisfaction, work-life balance and mental health support more important than career progression. Their aspiration to managerial positions is below the global average. Unlike workers in other countries, Czechs value job security more than salary when choosing a job. Workmonitor also shows that closing the gender pay gap is crucial for three-quarters of Czechs.
The 2024 Workmonitor survey organised by Randstad, a recruitment agency, focuses on factors that influence employees when choosing and changing jobs. Highlighting a significant shift in the Czech workers’ priorities, the survey shows that only 39% of workers currently have career advancement ambitions, which is significantly lower compared to the global average (56%). Moreover, more than half (52%) of the respondents would stay in a position that does not offer any prospects of promotion or development if they are satisfied with the job; 45% are not interested in career advancement at all. “Interestingly, only a quarter of workers want to take on more managerial responsibility, which is markedly below the global average (47%). This trend points to a change in the workers’ values. They prefer personal life and mental health over career advancement and do not want to take on more responsibility at work,” says Martin Jánský, CEO of Randstad Czech Republic, with regard to the survey results.
The 2024 Workmonitor also suggests that Czechs’ worsening financial situation, caused first by the pandemic measures and then by the impacts of the war in Ukraine, inflation and rising prices, translates also into other job-related trends. “Currently, 45% of working Czechs are worried about losing their jobs, which is 7 percentage points more than last year. Job security is therefore the most important factor when considering current or future employment (92%),” notes Martin Jánský. He adds that, unlike in other countries, the pay level only ranks second in the Czech Republic (90%), followed closely by work-life balance and mental health support (89%).
In terms of flexibility, 27% of the respondents would turn down a job that does not involve flexible working arrangements, with a quarter saying that the possibility to work from home is non-negotiable for them. This is a decrease compared to last year, when the possibility of working remotely was essential for more than half of Czechs. Workers also demand that their employers’ values and goals are in line with their own. More than a third (37%) of the respondents would not accept a job if they disagreed with the management’s opinions, and a quarter would not work for a company that did not actively seek diversity and fairness. Equal pay for women and men is the most important value for the respondents (74%). “Employers who are sensitive to the needs of their employees become trusted partners, which inspires a sense of fulfilment and satisfaction in the working environment,” says Martin Jánský.
The Workmonitor survey, which Randstad has been conducting regularly for more than twenty years, included 27 000 workers aged 18–67 from 34 countries, with over 500 respondents from the Czech Republic. As has traditionally been the case, the survey monitored the labour market trends in December 2023 and analysed how worker preferences and needs have been changing in different regions and industries. The survey provides valuable information for employers to better understand and react to the dynamically evolving labour market.
