Record number of Slovaks working abroad

Slovaks working abroad broke an eight-year long record in 2015, with as many as 148,000 citizens having a job outside their homeland, Hospodárske Noviny daily reports. Slovaks are mostly employed in sectors such as construction, industry, health care or social services. More than 30,000 of them were employed in each of these sectors last year, said Poštová banka analyst Dominika Ondrová. The Czech Republic, a traditional destination for Slovak workers, has been taken over by Austria in recent years. "Although prices in Austria are higher and there's a certain language barrier, people are attracted by the higher quality of living conditions," explained Ondrová. CSOB bank analyst Marek Gabriš said that people looking for jobs abroad do so because of higher salaries and experience, while the youth look for new challenges.