The demographics and age structure of the populations of countries such as Slovakia, Romania, Bulgaria, Poland and Hungary – countries whose inhabitants often migrate to Western Europe for work – show clear demographic characteristics. Most of the population in the countries in question is in the 35-44 age range, which is considered to be one of the most labour-productive age ranges of the population. All these countries have very similar if not identical age structures. Compared to Western European countries such as the Netherlands or Germany, the largest population is between 54 and 59 years old.
These statistics show that the countries of Eastern and Central Europe have an abundant working-age labour force that is motivated to work abroad. The people of the countries in question share many characteristics as well as differences, which adds to their uniqueness as a nation.
Romanian employee
“A typical Romanian is a person who can cope in any situation”. As many things did not work in the past and some of them still do not work, the typical Romanian is generally a person who can cope in any situation. When something “can’t be done”, he quickly finds an alternative way to fix, arrange, organize, help, invent. This is a quality that is very welcome at work, and skilled employees who are able to solve problems quickly are indispensable.
Romanians are also characterised by their temperament and energy. Creativity – Romanians are known for unexpected solutions. This explains the high number of Romanian winners of the Olympiads in the sciences, the number of Romanians promoted to regional level in multinational companies, and Romanians who inspire the world with their music or any other kind of art.
Bulgarian employee
The results of the survey clearly show the willingness of Bulgarian employees to qualify at the workplace. For 95.6% of respondents overall, it is important for their employer to have a specific employee training plan. At the same time, more than 85.8% of respondents said they would leave their job if they were offered the same conditions in another job, but they also had the opportunity to take part in training to improve their qualifications.
This nation can also be characterized as a very friendly, helpful and peaceful people. Bulgarians, like Romanians, are cheerful and lively. However, unlike Romanian employees, they are not so bothered when something does not work or has no solution. This characteristic can be attributed to the fact that Bulgaria is a Balkan country and life in the Balkans has always been so “unstressful”. They also complain little. They had long lived under the rule of the Turks and could not complain. That has stayed with them so far and that is why they are more satisfied than dissatisfied at work. A lot of Bulahrs are going abroad. They are all learning English so they can go out after school. You can find Bulgarians everywhere, Europe is full of them. It can be said that they are rather fleeing the country, especially the younger generation, as in other Eastern European countries. But, once they earn, they’ll be happy to come back again. Families stick together. In Bulgaria it’s the rule – I go for experience and money, but then I come back because I can’t leave my family. Family relations and traditions are what characterise the Bulgarian nation.
The European labour market is opened to Bulgarians and Romanians. From 1. January 2007, they are free to work anywhere in the European Union without restrictions. In fact, studies have repeatedly shown the benefits of free movement of workers for the economies of host countries. And he pointed out that incoming workers from other countries usually supplement the shortage of labour or labour skills in the domestic labour market.
Slovak employee
Work is consistently the second most important value (after the value of family) for the inhabitants of Slovakia. The most important aspect by which people judge work and employment is the area of pay. “Good earnings” is considered important by 85.8% of employees. The third most frequently occurring aspect of a good job was the self-fulfilment item- that is, “a job in which something can be achieved”. Many people also see work as an area in which they can exercise their skills and find a certain inner personal fulfilment or. inner satisfaction.
A Slovak as an employee is hardworking, he wants everything that he sees, experiences elsewhere, he has no problem to travel half the world to achieve it and it doesn’t matter if it is for work, business or studies. The Slovak can be as modest as possible just to achieve satisfaction in any activity, but his modesty often resembles rather stuntedness, which makes it much more difficult for him to assert himself in the competition than his colleagues from the Czech Republic, for example. A Slovak employee is generally a satisfied employee. When assessing their overall satisfaction with work and employment abroad, Slovaks are mostly positive and declare satisfaction with employment much more often than dissatisfaction. Can it be said that Slovaks are smart people? They are among the smartest in the world. There is a ranking that shows how people in each country can adapt to and learn to use new technologies. Slovakia ranks fifth globally, which is excellent. None of the countries ahead of us are from Central or Eastern Europe. People can kick on very quickly, reorient themselves. This is one of the reasons for high labour productivity.
Polish employee
When Poland joined the European Union, Poles left in large numbers to work in other countries (then mainly in Britain and Ireland). While at the beginning it may have seemed that they were going for a short time to earn a living or learn a language, in recent years demographers say that a large number of them will never return. Thus, Poland is one of the countries where the country has to cope with the fact that the young and the educated are leaving. Governments have not done much to keep people coming back, experts say. In Poland, there is no interest in enticing emigrants to return.
What is it like to work with Polish people? We dare to say that Polish people are hardworking, they are great employees, they work really hard and they are reliable. Is the origin in their history ? Yeah. The Polish nation is a nation that has been severely tested by history, and in theory this could reflect well on their collective mentality. Polish history has been quite turbulent in most cases. Poland has experienced many wars, occupations and struggles for identity and independence. There are ideas that have been passed down from generation to generation that you have to work hard to live, that if you don’t work you don’t have food to put on the table, that it’s important to educate yourself so that you can be treated better as a human being. Recognition for Polish employees is very important, so supervisors should ensure that their hard work is noticed. Whether it’s public or just personal recognition, it’s a great motivation for them. Polish workers highly value the trust-building efforts of their employer, which for them means the need to demonstrate that they can be relied on and have a certain level of responsibility, which the survey found to be a more important motivating factor than financial reward. Especially if the employer comes from a more individualistic culture, it will certainly be beneficial to the overall results of the company to create a welcoming and open atmosphere. You’d be surprised where open-minded people who feel welcome can get!
Hungarian employee
The truth is that Hungarians are very friendly and considerate people. They take pleasure in thanking, begging and being simply polite. Perhaps the only thing that could be criticised is that they don’t like to speak a language other than Hungarian. It is simply a likeable, combative and energetic nation related to the Finns.
Hungarian workers are also increasingly encountered in other European countries. They are used especially in the construction sector. Wages for trained construction workers can be significantly higher than at home and if someone wants to find a job that matches their profession, such as skilled scaffolders, opportunities in their home country are low.
Hungarian employees consider the most important motivational factors to be those related to interpersonal relationships in the workplace. This means that even though wages in Hungary continue to rise, working abroad is still popular among the Hungarian population because they can appreciate their qualifications, expertise and are recognised abroad. The outflow of skilled Hungarians to other EU Member States in recent years is seen as one of the reasons for the growing labour shortage at home. The gaps that have been created have been filled not only by workers from other EU countries, but increasingly also by non-EU nationals.
So who is the best employee ?
Each nationality has its own positives when it comes to employment and contributes in its own way to the overall success of the company. Generally speaking, employees from Eastern Europe are productive, motivated and hard-working.
When you choose based on nationality, who to prefer ? It is very important to note that when selecting employees from Eastern and Central European countries, their nationality, the country they come from, possible prejudices associated with their country of origin should not play a role, but mainly the quality of recruitment – the process of recruiting and selecting suitable employees.
What does quality recruitment involve ? This service includes everything from recruitment advice, selections, testing to the subsequent recommendation of candidates. The basis for a good selection is a proper understanding of the position to be filled, the employer’s requirements and criteria. In particular, the individual approach of the HR consultants to each position plays a very important role in this service. For any position, they can present candidates who have undergone a thorough selection process and meet the required profile of the profession.
Comprehensively, quality recruitment should encompass the entire selection process:
- Communicating and reviewing the employer’s needs: communicating with the employer to ensure understanding of the position, the required responsibilities and requirements.
- Job Specification: A job description is prepared outlining the offer, the nature of the job and the professional qualifications required of the ideal candidates.
- Identifying suitable candidates: using your own network, your own database and advertising to start building a list of potential candidates.
- Evaluation of candidates: candidates must be thoroughly screened for suitability before they are presented to the employer. This step includes a pre-interview, checking language, aptitude and problem-solving skills.
- Presentation: presentation of selected candidates to the employer.
As long as the employee is properly selected through quality HR processes, meets all the requirements of the job, is motivated and wants to contribute to the company, preferences based on nationality lose their justification. With an objective approach to employee selection, employers have a much better chance of hiring the right people, regardless of whether they are Romanian, Bulgarian, Slovak, Polish, Hungarian or any other nationality. As at the beginning of the article we were thinking about the answer who is better or best as an employee, who to prefer according to nationality, let’s now try to answer objectively whether it is necessary to take into account the country of origin of potential employees when recruiting in all the countries mentioned above in a quality and even recruitment process.
