Czechs, like many others workers from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), are coming home. In light of CEE currencies strengthening within the past year when compared with the pound sterling and euro, it´s clear that the same motivation that lured many workers abroad is now enticing them to return.

Around half the estimated 1 million people from the CEE region who moved to Britain since 2004 have already returned home, according to a recent report by British think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).

Since European Union accession in 2004, analysts in the Czech Republic have feared the potential "brain drain" phenomena resulting in a shortage of qualified high-skill workers in the country. Some fears were seemingly realized as many young, educated Czechs chose to live and work abroad, especially in the U.K. Both skilled and unskilled laborers sought higher pay and advantageous exchange rates with the British pound. But changes in the exchange rate and the job market have altered the situation. Although it is hard to determine just how many Czechs have made the move purely for financial gain, it appears that many more Czechs have been watching the narrowing currency value margin. As a result, they follow the better financial prospects all the way home.

Natálie Záhorská, business unit manager of the Grafton Technologies branch of Grafton Recruitment in Prague, said that her firm is definitely seeing a strong trend of Czechs returning home, and the strong Czech crown is certainly one of the reasons. "If we compare the exchange rate of the dollar at the end of ‘90s to now, the difference is more than Kč 20 per dollar. This information must make a number of Czechs living abroad consider returning," she said. "They’ve earned some money in foreign countries and with the strong crown they see that they would be able to have a similar income in the Czech Republic as well," Záhorská said.

Michal Kolář, a process engineer at the U.K. branch of technological conglomerate 3M Worldwide, is a Czech living and working in Britain who keeps the exchange rate in the back of his mind. "I do still mentally convert my salary into crowns, and to see the amount dropping almost on daily basis is very upsetting," he said. He’s seen the impact this has had on many other Czechs working in the U.K.

"I am aware ... that most East Europeans are heading home because the U.K. is not as financially attractive as it used to be. I had number of friends from the Czech Republic working in the catering industry in Liverpool, and most of them have gone home now," Kolář explained. "I think that skillful people with a reasonable English level can achieve similar earnings in more fulfilling jobs than working in a restaurant in the U.K.," he said.

People can return to jobs that better suit their skills. Miroslava Mozolová, a Slovak who worked in sandwich chain Pret-a-Manger in the U.K, is now a quality coordinator for a budget airline in Bratislava, Slovakia. "I will never regret my year in London ... but [from a career point of view] it was a waste of time," she told news agency Reuters.

We knew you’d be back

In line with Mozolová’s sentiment, many observers say that one of the top reasons for leaving has nothing to do with money. Grafton’s Záhorská said that the strong Czech crown and the resulting domestic prospects are not the only reasons Czechs are returning. "Generally, we can say that Czechs are not that willing to travel or to stay abroad for a longer period of time. If they decide to move abroad it is usually for a limited time, six to 12 months, and [then they] are prepared to return back to their families," she said.

John Mulvey, managing consultant for ICT Recruitment in Prague, agrees that people from the Czech Republic generally only go for one or two years to work abroad. In respect to the currency values, ICT has seen only a minor change in respect to the overall natural patterns. "We’ve seen quite a few [workers] returning from the U.K. and Ireland," he said, "but it's not necessarily a massive trend."

In a 2006 field survey of recruitment agencies dealing in finding work for Czechs abroad, it was discovered that the top destinations – U.K. and Ireland – showed the greatest demand for highly skilled professionals such as IT specialists, doctors, nurses and artisans. This survey was included in a report by Jana Vavrečková, a member of the Research Institute for Labor and Social Affairs (VÚPSV). She noted that the experience may be worth more than the money earned.

"The considerably higher incomes on offer are not the only motives encouraging university-educated Czechs to work abroad. Other motivations include the experience it would afford, the generally better-equipped workplaces, the opportunity to make personal contacts and to establish a basis for future career progress," Vavrečková stated in the report.

The VÚPSV also found that most workers who moved abroad may have already had their return in mind, rather than a life-long expatriation. "It is widely thought that the vast majority of highly qualified migrants will return to the Czech Republic after a period and put to advantageous use the experiences gained abroad; in particular, the growing number of transnational companies operating in the Czech Republic makes it reasonable to expect that there will be enormous demand for this kind of skilled labor in the Czech market," Vavrečková said.

Some sectors are particularly hard-hit by the exodus, but not necessarily the high-skilled areas. "We can see the trend of returning Poles from, for example, Ireland, mainly from the construction area," said Luboš Rejchrt, temporary staffing manager for Grafton Recruitment.

Home is where the money is

Kolář said he believes that the specific location a worker came from is a factor. "I would say that people from Prague and its surroundings are more likely to return now because the opportunities and money are in Prague. However, people from poorer regions with higher unemployment rate can still find U.K. quite attractive," he said.

Kolář explained that he may have taken a very different path than many Czechs working the U.K. by advancing his career and not only aiming to save money or get a good experience. "I finished my A levels and my degree in the U.K. and actually have a good job with career prospects," he said. He said he admits that finances did play some role in his decision to go to Britain. "But for me it has been more of a natural progression rather than pure money hunt."

In light of the current economic situation, Kolář said he is considering his options, including those back in the Czech Republic. "With my experience I could easily get a more senior job, unfortunately the pay is still slightly lower than what I would be prepared to accept," he said.

Kolář also doesn’t seem pressured to make a move right away at the risk of disrupting his career path. "I have time to do my cherry picking in terms of jobs, and it seems that eventually there will be time for me to go back home as well," he said. Still, home may eventually be the better option. "I am not a financial expert, but I believe that the pound will not fully recover in future, even when the credit crunch is over, and thus my future is much more likely to be in the Czech Republic than in the U.K.," Kolář said.

Shifting migrant groups beyond Britain

The trend for workers to return home is also affecting countries within the CEE region. Grafton’s Rejchrt noted that with the growing economy of the Czech Republic as well as surrounding countries, the migrant work force is changing locally. "Slovaks or Poles [who worked in the Czech Republic] are starting to return to their countries as the economics in Slovakia and Poland are growing and they have more possibilities to find a good job at home than abroad," he said, adding that as an example the Czech labor market now has difficulty attracting Slovaks, traditionally the largest group of migrant workers in the Czech Republic.

According to an April 2008 report from the Czech News Agency (ČTK), the number of Slovak workers has declined so far this year, in contrast to growing numbers in past years. The report also states that Polish workers are on the decline in the Czech Republic.

With the decline in two major groups of migrant labor – Poles and Slovaks – companies could find themselves short staffed. "This is one of the reasons why companies in the Czech Republic have to start thinking of finding other sources for work force," Rejchrt said.

Luckily with the increased demand, there appears to be an increased supply from outside of the EU. ČTK reported that the numbers of Ukrainian workers increased by 5,000 since the end of last year, while the number of Vietnamese have increased by more than 11,000 since spring of last year. Furthermore, the number of workers from Mongolia, Bulgaria and Romania has increased three times since 2007.

Recruitment agencies tend to be happy with the abilities of this new migrant working group. "Ukrainians, Vietnamese and Mongolians are ranked very positively as employees with strong working morale and high effectiveness at work," Rejchrt said. The only problem is the increased hassle of insuring the workers' legal status. "This brings more administrative work for companies in terms of work permits. All the permissions for working here can take five to six months, so companies have to plan their hiring in advance," Rejchrt said, adding that they hope the process will be faster with a new Green Card program proposed by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs.