Czech Republic

The Czech Republic is a country of 10.9 million people with the lowest unemployment rate in the EU in 2025: 2.8% (EU: 6.0%). Its employment rate is also well above the EU average: 82.9% of people aged 20–64 have a job (EU: 76.1%).

Unemployment has crept up – from 2.2% in 2022 to 2.8% in 2025 – and youth unemployment has risen faster, from 6.8% to 10.4% among people aged 15–24. That is still well below the EU average of 15.2%.

As an EU/EEA or Swiss citizen you do not need a work permit – you can move, look for a job and start working on the same terms as Czech citizens. What you do need for most jobs is Czech: the overwhelming majority of employers require it.

According to labour market information from the Labour Office of the Czech Republic, published by EURES in 2025, the occupational groups with the biggest shortages in 2024 were machine and plant operators, building and related trades workers and health professionals. Employers most often look for:

• engineering and manufacturing – engineers, welders, CNC operators, toolmakers, assembly workers,
• construction – builders, bricklayers, construction workers and skilled tradespeople,
• health – doctors, nurses, medical technicians,
• IT – programmers, software developers, cybersecurity experts,
• transport – lorry drivers, forklift operators.

There are regional differences: Prague needs ICT specialists and support workers in construction, manufacturing and transport, while South Moravia looks for software developers, data analysts and engineers.

Competition is stronger for office jobs: there are more jobseekers than vacancies among legal, social and cultural professionals and business and administration associate professionals – in the Olomouc region, for example, there were 19 applicants for every vacancy for administrative workers.

In the Czech Republic vacancies are registered with the Labour Office (Úřad práce ČR) and published on company websites, job portals and social networks and in most national newspapers. Start here:

• Labour Office vacancy search – the official database of job offers in the Czech Republic,
• EURES at the Labour Office – advisers who help EU citizens find work in the Czech Republic and employers recruit in the EU,
• EURES – the EU job portal with vacancies from all EU countries.

Contacting employers directly also works – especially for seasonal or casual work in rural areas. Larger companies often ask you to fill in their own application questionnaire.

For step-by-step advice on job search, CVs and interviews in any EU country, see our How to find a job abroad – 10 practical guides.

A Czech application usually contains:

• a cover letter – brief and to the point, focused on the job: why you want it and what you can offer the employer,
• a structured CV – personal data (name, phone number, email; the city where you live is enough as an address), education, professional experience (the most important part – list the positions you held), other skills such as languages and certificates, and references with names and contact details of previous employers; you can use the Europass CV.

Most employers require an active knowledge of Czech, so applications are normally written in Czech.

The interview: the selection procedure is fairly formal, so dress appropriately. Bring your CV and copies of all your certificates as a portfolio. Some employers also use psychological tests.

Diplomas: the Czech ENIC-NARIC centre is part of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports – see the ENIC-NARIC page for the Czech Republic. The ministry’s page on recognition of qualifications and education in the EU (in Czech) covers regulated professions.

• Minimum wage: CZK 22,400 a month or CZK 134.40 an hour for a 40-hour week (from 1 January 2026).
• Contract: an employment contract must always be in writing, and you must receive your own copy.
• Working time: at most 40 hours a week; a single shift may not be longer than 12 hours. The employer must give you your shift schedule in writing at least 2 weeks in advance.
• Overtime: the employer may order at most 8 hours a week and 150 hours a year. You get your pay plus a bonus of at least 25% of your average earnings – or time off instead, if you agree on it. If the time off is not given within 3 months, the bonus must be paid.
• Holidays: at least 4 weeks of paid leave a year (5 weeks in the public sector).
• Deductions: employees pay 7.1% social security and 4.5% health insurance contributions, plus income tax (see below).

Students from the EU/EEA and Switzerland can work in the Czech Republic without any permit. Apart from a normal employment contract, students often work on one of two agreements:

• Agreement to complete a job (dohoda o provedení práce, DPP): at most 300 hours a year. In 2026 you take part in sickness and pension insurance (and pay contributions) only in months when you earn CZK 12,000 or more from it.
• Agreement to perform work (dohoda o pracovní činnosti, DPČ): at most 20 hours a week on average over the year; no severance pay when it ends.
• Paid holiday applies to both agreements if the agreement lasts at least 28 days without a break and you work at least 80 hours in the year.
• Traineeships have no single legal framework – the conditions, including any pay, are set by the organisation offering them.

Students from outside the EU who study an accredited university programme full-time in the Czech Republic have free access to the labour market – no work permit is needed, but you must hold a valid residence permit. The same applies to graduates of Czech universities.

Thinking of studying there first? See Studying in the Czech Republic – practical information.

1. Report your stay: if you plan to stay longer than 30 days, report your place of residence to the Foreign Police within 30 days of arrival. If you stay at a hotel, dormitory or other accommodation establishment, it is done there.
2. Registration certificate (potvrzení o přechodném pobytu): for stays over 3 months you may apply at a Ministry of the Interior office – it is voluntary. Fee: CZK 200; valid for 10 years. With the application you are assigned a personal identification number (rodné číslo), which makes many administrative tasks easier.
3. Health insurance: as an employee of a Czech employer you are covered by public health insurance – your employer notifies your health insurance company when you start. You get an insurance card or a paper certificate. Before that, the European Health Insurance Card covers only necessary care.
4. Tax: income tax is 15%, and 23% on income above CZK 1,762,812 a year (2026). Sign the taxpayer’s declaration (prohlášení poplatníka) with your employer to get the basic tax credit of CZK 2,570 a month (CZK 30,840 a year). By 15 February of the following year you can ask your employer to do your annual tax settlement.
5. Bank account: banks usually ask for two identity documents (e.g. passport and identity card or driving licence) and a Czech phone number.

Problems with your rights as an EU worker? Your Europe Advice and SOLVIT help for free.

If you are not an EU/EEA or Swiss citizen, you need a long-term residence permit to work. The main routes:

• Graduates of Czech universities who studied on a study residence permit can get a long-term residence permit to look for a job or start a business for up to 9 months (no extension; fee CZK 2,500). As graduates of a Czech university they have free access to the labour market.
• EU Blue Card – for highly qualified jobs: you need completed higher vocational or university education of at least 3 years and a salary of at least 1.5 times the average gross salary in the Czech Republic; for the period from 1 May 2026 to 30 April 2027 the Ministry of Labour put the average gross annual salary at CZK 590,580. It is valid 3 months longer than the work contract, for at most 3 years.
• Employee card (zaměstnanecká karta) – a long-term residence and work permit for any profession or skill level, valid for up to 2 years. Fee: CZK 2,500 in the Czech Republic, CZK 5,000 at an embassy abroad.

All the conditions and application steps are explained on ipc.gov.cz, the information portal for foreigners of the Ministry of the Interior.

• Eurostat – population on 1 January, unemployment by age, employment rate (data for 2025 and 2026),
• EURES – Living and working conditions: Czechia, Labour market information: Czechia,
• Labour Office of the Czech Republic – vacancies, EURES,
• Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs – minimum wage, employment relationships, overtime pay, DPP, DPČ, sickness insurance 2026, communication No. 44/2026 Coll. (average salary for EU Blue Cards),
• Financial Administration – income tax for employees 2026,
• Ministry of the Interior (ipc.gov.cz) – obligations of EU citizens, registration certificate, free access to the labour market, job-seeking permit, EU Blue Card, employee card,
• VZP (General Health Insurance Company) – healthcare for foreigners,
• Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports – recognition of qualifications; ENIC-NARIC Czech Republic,
• Your Europe – working abroad.

Updated: October 2026.