Employers’ Requirements on Labour Force in the South Moravian Region

This article is focused on identifying employers’ requirements on workforce in the South-Moravian Region and assessing whether or not the requirements are referring mainly to education, level of qualification and work experience or to competencies. The research is based on the Swedish approach to monitoring employers’ requirements on workforce, which uses competency-based qualitative interviewing. The Swedish scenario of a semi-structured interview was adapted to Czech conditions. 200 employers in the South Moravian Region were interviewed. Pronounced requirements on workforce refer mainly to education, professional qualifications and experience and the resulting specific professional competencies. To a large extent the requirements were focused on values, attitudes and character traits. The general specialized competencies and soft skills were also mentioned, but mostly as last in order. The requirements varied according to the size and orientation of the company and the nature of the vacancy.