“With an aging population and a very low fertility rate, Slovakia has a serious demographic problem,” Martin Kahanec, scientific director of the Central European Labour Studies Institute (CELSI) in Bratislava, told The Slovak Spectator.

“The significant shrinkage of its working-age population projected by demographers for the coming decades poses severe risks for its economy, labour market and public finances.”

Kahanec believes that immigration can significantly alleviate these problems, not only directly through the inflow of young and highly-motivated economic migrants but also by creation of new jobs for Slovak citizens.

“In particular, high-skilled immigrants can fill in bottlenecks in the labour market and thereby buttress the economy and increase demand for the domestic labour force,” said Kahanec.

Kahanec added that from the labour market perspective the primary objective of Slovakia’s mi­gration policy should be to facilitate immigration, integration, and naturalisation of skilled migrants, noting that this could include immigration of well-educated workers but also students who come first to study but who could then stay to work.

Martin Kahanec quoted in: Jana Liptáková: Slovakia to issue EU Blue Cards, Career and HR, The Slovak Spectator

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