Torsello, Davide - Pappová, Melinda: Social Networks in Movement. Time, interaction and interethnic spaces in Central Eastern Europe - Nostra Tempora 8. (Somorja-Dunaszerdahely, 2003)
Interaction, migration and change
222 Zdenëk Uherek - Katerina Plochová worker. In Ukraine he was an ordinary physician but his salary was so low that he spent his regular vacation every year, plus a wageless vacation, working in the Czech Republic. No one knew that he was a physician in Libérée. Only when someone was injured at work and he was able to help him would his coworkers acknowledge that he was a doctor. Following the research of Dušan Drbohlav and his team, 55% of Ukrainian guest workers in the Czech Republic are secondary school graduates and 27% university graduates (Drbohlav et al 1999: 26). According to his research data, 70% of the workers did unqualified work, 10% of qualified forces were bricklayers, and 20% worked in very different professions (Drbohlav et al 1999: 20). We discovered similar results during our study of the resettlement groups from Zhitomir County, Byelorussia and Kazakhstan. Reasons for this include the demand in Czech lands for unqualified labour, the lack of language skills among such newcomers, and the fact that Ukrainian university diplomas are not accepted for many professions in the Czech Republic. Some re-settlers from Zhitomir County, Byelorussia and Kazakhstan have been successful, and some of them now hold qualified jobs. We have observed that they were usually able to find better jobs two to three years after their arrival in the Czech Republic, although many of them will never return to their previous professions. Usually, however, guest workers have limited opportunities. They can receive work permits only for vacant work places that are of no interest to native residents. Nevertheless, those who have also regularly worked in the Czech Republic usually do not try to get qualified jobs. Commuting does not stimulate people from Ukraine to strive for qualified jobs: they do not prepare themselves for jobs in their homes, do not learn the language, and do not pursue job offers. Work in the Czech Republic is not perceived as a possibility for new experiences and to increase work qualifications; it is only a temporary financial solution.
