As Czech companies continue to face labour shortages, they are increasingly looking abroad to find new talent. However, it is not always just about filling vacant positions. Many employers are searching for highly skilled professionals who bring unique expertise and significant added value to their business.
Despite this, many companies encounter the same frustrating problem: their international employee leaves shortly after arriving. As a result, all the time, effort, and considerable financial resources invested in recruitment, immigration, and relocation are lost. Why does this happen so often?
International Recruitment Should Be a Strategy, Not a Quick Fix
Let's start with the end goal. What do you actually want as an employer?
You want a satisfied employee who performs well, integrates into the team, and stays with your company for years.
Considering the amount of time, effort, and resources involved in recruitment, immigration, and relocation, it is worth taking a step back and evaluating your overall approach. Do you see international recruitment as nothing more than a temporary solution to your labour shortage? This mindset is often the reason behind disappointing outcomes.
Or do you view it as a long-term strategic investment that will help your business remain competitive in the years to come?
Adaptability and Integration Matter
Many employers approach the relocation of international employees too superficially. In the worst-case scenario, they simply offer a financial package. In the better case, they hire an immigration provider or recruitment agency to manage the administrative process. Working with specialists is certainly a sensible decision, but it is equally important to carefully assess both their credibility and the scope of the services they provide.
The real issue, however, lies elsewhere.
Very few companies consider adaptability and integration during the recruitment process itself. Employers tend to focus almost exclusively on professional skills while overlooking the risk of culture shock. They rarely assess whether a candidate is genuinely willing and able to learn the local language and adapt to a completely new working and living environment.
Equally important questions often remain unanswered:
- What opportunities will the employee have outside of work?
- What will their housing situation look like?
- Do they have family members, friends, or colleagues nearby who can support them during the first few months?
These are precisely the factors that should be evaluated before the employment relationship even begins.
In reality, however, they are either overlooked or addressed only after problems have already emerged. By then, it is often too late.
Context also plays a crucial role. Recruiting someone to work in a manufacturing plant located in a remote industrial area outside traditional expat hubs is naturally more likely to succeed with candidates from culturally and linguistically closer countries such as Ukraine or Serbia than with someone relocating from the Maghreb region.
How Can Employers Solve This? Ongoing Support Is Essential!
This brings us back to the original question.
What exactly are you trying to achieve as an employer?
If your goal is to retain motivated employees who consistently deliver high-quality work, salary alone is not enough. Offering fair pay and working conditions is the absolute minimum and, after all, a legal requirement under Czech labour law.
What truly matters is ensuring that international employees clearly understand, from day one, what awaits them:
- what their role will involve,
- where they will live,
- what everyday life in the Czech Republic will look like, and
- what they can realistically expect throughout the relocation process.
Most importantly, every promise you make must be kept.
Successful companies and recruitment agencies often rely on dedicated relocation or integration coordinators. These professionals remain available to both the employee and the employer throughout the entire process. They handle administrative matters, solve everyday challenges, and help both sides navigate situations that might otherwise become sources of frustration.
Their role goes far beyond paperwork. Ultimately, it is about giving international employees someone they can rely on while adapting to a completely new environment.
Yes, employing an internal or external coordinator represents an additional cost. But once again, it comes down to your company's mindset. If you genuinely see international recruitment as a strategic driver of your business growth, this investment will almost certainly pay for itself.
Final Recommendations
- Ask yourself: Is international recruitment a long-term strategic priority for our company, or merely a short-term solution?
- Evaluate the context: Are candidates from particular countries likely to adapt successfully to our working environment and local community?
- Provide continuous support: If you want to retain talented international employees, fair compensation alone is not enough. Ongoing guidance and support are essential.
Remember: A satisfied employee who is treated fairly, rewarded appropriately (or even above average), and supported throughout their journey without unpleasant surprises has very little reason to look for opportunities elsewhere.
Is your company struggling with high turnover among international employees? Get in touch with us. We'd be happy to discuss how to design an effective onboarding, adaptation, and integration process that helps international talent stay for the long term.
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