Four out of five workers in the Czech Republic report overall satisfaction with their working conditions, the fourth European Working Conditions Survey reveals. However, only one in four Czech workers thinks they have good career prospects and only one in three workers consider themselves well paid for the work they do, which are levels well below the EU averages.

‘The European Working Conditions Survey shows that Czech workers are by and large content with their working conditions, although there are concerns regarding training provision, work intensification and inflexible working time arrangements,’ says Jorma Karppinen, Director of Eurofound, the Dublin-based EU agency. ‘In comparison to the other 26 Member States of the European Union, the Czech labour market has more similarities with those of the former EU15 states in terms of characteristics, opportunities and workers’ perception, than with the labour markets in the ten new EU Member States.’

However, work intensity is a growing phenomenon, showing a clear trend towards increasing levels over the period since the previous survey in 2001. Seven out of ten Czech workers (71.2%) report having to work to tight deadlines or at very high speed at least one quarter of their working time, which are the third highest levels in Europe behind Finland (73.6%) and Sweden (71.7%). The survey also shows that pace of work is determined by the boss and direct demand from customers in the Czech Republic.

Also, only just over a third of Czech workers (34.9%) consider themselves to be well paid, in contrast to the average level in the former EU15 (47%) and in EU27 countries (43.2%). More significantly, although there are cultural differences in responding to this question, more than one third of Czech workers (32.2%) fear losing their job in the coming six months, higher than the average for the ten new EU Member States (25.2%) and the EU15 countries (11.3%).

Most Czech workers say they are satisfied with their work–life balance, with four out of five workers (79.5%) able to balance working hours with family and social commitments, although more Czech workers are contacted about work outside working hours (31.3%) than on average in the EU (22.1%), or in neighbouring Austria (25.1%) and Slovakia (22.4%). A significantly higher proportion of Czech workers telework than on average in Europe (18.7% vs 8.3% EU average), and the number of Czech workers using a computer at work is closer to the levels in the former EU15 than the ten new EU Member States (CZ 39.4%, EU15 49.8% and NMS 32.9%).