How to be a succesful graduate? Results of a comparative analysis of the Demand and Supply on the Labour Market

Abstract

EU countries have been experiencing a difficult period of time in recent years. New trends have been appearing due to the economic crisis and growing competitive environment. These trends influence the labour market and human resource management in organizations. One of the endangered groups in the labour market are university graduates. Cluster analysis was used to investigate the development of the unemployment rate of young people. The results show that the Czech Republic does not have a similar development of unemployment as its neighbouring countries; however, its development is similar to Slovenia and Malta. Quantitative research among employers was used to research the demand in the labour market in the Czech Republic. The results summarise opinions of 1 046 employers. As the key criteria for employers, the research identified flexibility and adaptability, willingness to learn and loyalty. These are required by employers when they are hiring a new employee from among graduates. Factors regarded as necessary if a graduated wants to succeed in the labour market were selected for the detailed analysis. These criteria include flexibility and adaptability, foreign language skills or abroad stays. It was identified that there are differences between preferences of the given criteria among individual company types. The research of the supply in the labour market was conducted among 491 last year university students. Contrary to employers, students consider as the most important factors foreign language skills, communication skills, and willingness to learn. © 2015, World Scientific and Engineering Academy and Society. All rights reserved