The Czech Republic's largest recruitment agency warned March 28 that Hyundai will face problems recruiting the 3,000 workers needed for its future car plant in the east of the country. The warning from Trenkwalder Kappa People (TKP) came a day after Hyundai announced that it will site its first European factory at Nosovice, around 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the Polish and Slovak borders, with an investment of 800 million-1.0 billion euros (US$963 million- $1.2 billion).
"In my opinion, around 50% of the workers will have to come from elsewhere," from neighboring Slovakia and Poland or other parts of the Czech Republic, TKP's Petra Rosselova told the local media, adding that the unemployed in the region would probably not meet the employer's demands.
Apart from direct employment, Hyundai's arrival in the Moravia-Silesia region, where unemployment in some areas is as high as 20%, should create 15,000 jobs at subcontracters and other suppliers, Czech Industry Minister Milan Urban had said. The plant is to start production in October 2008.
Volkswagen's local manufactuer Skoda Auto and the Franco-Japanese joint venture TPCA (Toyota Peugeot Citroen Automobile), both of which are based near Prague, have already complained of problems finding suitable workers.
The auto industry provides work for around 100,000 people in the Czech Republic, accounting for around 20% of total industrial production and 18% of exports.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2006
