In the recent years the labor market of the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries
has changed a lot. One of the main business challenges in the CEE region is the worker
shortage. The possible reasons of this phenomenon are the emigration of the labor
force from the countries of the former Eastern Bloc to the Western countries, the
negative demographic tendencies in the region, the effects of economic crisis and
the significant wage differences in the countries of European Union. This paper presents
the first results of an international research conducted in six countries from the
CEE region (Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Slovakia) on the
reasons and managerial implications of the current labor force shortage. The research
questionnaire was filled out in 797 companies and institutions in the CEE region.
In our paper we will show the size, ownership and the sectoral distribution of our
sample, as well as the average turnover rate, the average time to fill a position
in, the positions hard to fill in, the possible reasons of labor shortage and the
successful organizational and governmental programs to deal with labor market shortage.
The obtained results may be a useful input for the formulation of human resource management
programs in the organizations facing with labor market shortage in Serbia and other
CEE countries.
