Opening of the seminar
Secretary general of EZA, Sigrid Schraml
KAP Chairman Pavel Žufan, Department of Management, Faculty of Business and Economics, Mendel University in Brno (FBE MENDELU)
14.15
Panel 1: Concept of Competitiveness and Social Justice
15.30
Coffee break
16.00
Panel 2: Concept of Competitiveness and Social Justice – continuation
18.00
Dinner
Friday
May 22, 2026
9.00
Panel 2: Skills Revolution and Future of Work
10:30
Coffee break
11.00
Panel 3: Competitiveness, Skills, and Social Dialogue
12.30
Lunch
13.30
Panel 4: Social Dialogue and Trade Unions
15.00
Coffee break
15.30
Conclusions of the seminar Lubor Lacina Pavel Žufan Sigrid Schraml
Costs: All costs for presenters and members of employee organizations and trade unions (including travel and accommodation) will be covered according to the EZA rules.
Venue: hotel Krystal, José Martího 2/407, 162 00 Praha, Czech Republic.
Accommodation: arranged by the organizers in the above-mentioned venue.
The seminar was attended by 80 participants in person, including 5 interpreters, 1 technician. Following EZA partner’s organizations participated – EBCA, KAB (Aachen & Hockenheim, DE), NKOS (SK), Nowy Staw (PL), SAUAT (AL), SIIAEC (AT), ZKRZ (SK). Number of foreign participants: Albania 2, Austria 3, Germany 3, Italy 1, Poland 2, Slovakia 14, Ukraine 2. From Czech Republic 53 persons – mostly members of KAP (except 1 of the presenters). A total of 19 speakers spoke from: Albania 2, Austria 1, Germany 3, Poland 2, Slovakia 1, Ukraine 2, Czech Republic 8.
First aim of the seminar was to evaluate trends related to the development of the labour force, including projections of its future growth focusing on specific labour force challenges and solutions proposals. Second objective was to identify specific challenges related to the labour shortage in the European Union and the lack of necessary skills and contribute to the debate on how to address them.
The nature of the topic allowed to approach its solution from two points of view: firstly, in the context of labour shortages in general, and secondly, in the context of labour shortages where there is currently a relatively higher demand for labour, which is related to structural mismatches in labour markets, where the qualifications offered to employees do not match the requirements of employers. Each of the mentioned options contains different potential solutions, both for employers and the government. In the case of government policy, a wide range of possible solutions was discussed, from active employment policy to social measures to structural policy.
The added value of the seminar was a better understanding of the consequences associated with high and unpredictable workforce and skills shortage developments due to rapid incorporations of new technologies in combination with the process of ageing population. Participants discussed the role of Christian-social policy in the context of the social doctrine of the Catholic church. This seminar contributed to a better understanding of the mentioned consequences within long life learning education, tripartite negotiations and collective bargaining framework.
The discussed topics included:
Macroeconomic perspective: demographic trends, structural mismatches of workforce and skills;
Individual perspective: prolongation of working life, retraining, adaptability of older workers, digital literacy;
Impact of technological change on older employees;
Role of Catholic social doctrine in addressing EU and global challenges workforce and skills shortage;
Ethical perspectives on work, division of labour, and protection of vulnerable groups;
Migration trends and their potential to mitigate workforce and skills shortage;
Country case studies: Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Ukraine, Poland, Austria, Albania.
Seminar results included:
Recognition that workforce shortages and skills shortage are interconnected challenges, especially in post-socialist economies;
Adaptability of the workforce, especially older employees, is key for long-term competitiveness;
Adaptability of the workforce, especially older employees represents a challenge for life-long education and training systems;
Catholic social teaching provides valuable ethical guidance for employment policies and social peace.
Resolutions and demands:
Policy focus on the vulnerable: Governments must consider the weakest groups when addressing workforce and skills shortage;
Shaping expectations: Fiscal authorities should work to form stable fiscal environment in the long run to provide social protection to most vulnerable groups of workforce;
Support for retraining and digital literacy, particularly for workers over 50;
Managed migration should be explored as a complementary solution to workforce shortage;
Strong call for integrating Christian approach into modern economic and labour policy frameworks.
Consequences for daily work:
Increased demand on HR strategies: retraining programs, active ageing policies, support for digital upskilling;
Trade unions and workers’ organizations should strengthen advocacy for vulnerable groups in collective bargaining;
Daily work requires awareness of international and historical lessons, to avoid repeating past mistakes;
Managers and employees should be prepared for greater volatility in the labour market, requiring flexibility.
Realizing seminar results in daily work:
Dissemination of insights within organizations, encouraging discussion of skills and workforce shortages;
Pressure on policymakers: organizations and unions must actively lobby for policies that minimize social damage;
Develop internal training and retraining systems;
Introduce measures to support older workers’ adaptability;
Align organizational culture with Christian social values, promoting dignity of work;
Encourage international cooperation and dialogue among unions, NGOs, and policymakers to share best practices.
Opening of the seminar, Slavonic Hall of Stojan´s Grammar School
KAP Chairman Pavel Žufan and former Chairman Jiří Konečný
Seminar guarantor Prof. Lubor Lacina, Department of Finance, Faculty of Business and Economics, Mendel University in Brno (FBE MENDELU), KAP Vice-chairman
14.15
Panel 1, moderated by Radek Náplava, PhD., Department of Economics, FBE MENDELU, KAP member Michal Mádr, PhD., Departmenet of Economics, FBE MENDELU, KAP board member– The challenge of workforce and skills shortage: What do we see in data? Assoc. Prof. Lidmila Němcová, KAP board member – The challenge of workforce and skills shortage: extension of working life
15.00
Coffee break
15.30
Panel 2, moderated by Radek Náplava, PhD. Prof. Richard Pospíšil, Professor of Economics at Palacky University Olomouc, KAP member – The challenge of workforce and skills shortage: unemployment phenomenon on the Phillips curve examples Ondřej Pavelek, PhD., Department of Law, FBE MENDELU, KAP member – Increasing Digital Literacy and Resilience of 50+ Workers
16.30
Coffee break
17.00
Prof. Lubomír Mlčoch & Zuzana Siudová, KAP members – Life and work of Dr. Nosek in the context of the Social doctrine of the church
Panel 5, moderated by Michal Mádr, Ph.D.
Opening word summarizing the first two days of the programme by Prof. Lacina
9.20
Boleslav Vraný, PhD., KAP member – Recent global population and migration trends
10.00
Coffee break
10.20
Foreign participants’ panel Miriam Catullo, Board member of Catholic Workers Movement (KAB) Aachen, Germany Assoc. Prof. Ľubica Černá, president of Independent Christian trade unions of Slovakia (NKOS) Mag. Barbara Mayrhofer, member of Catholic Academics Association of Austria (KAVÖ) Fjorda Bregu and Silvana Danaj, members of The Independent Albanian Trade Union of Food, Agriculture, Trade and Turism (SAUATT) Uwe Terhorst, member of Christian Democratic Workers’ Union of Germany, and Catholic Workers Movement (KAB) in the Archdiocese of Freiburg
12.00
Conclusions of the seminar Lubor Lacina Pavel Žufan Jiří Konečný
12.30
Lunch at Stojanov House
Departure of participants
Costs: All costs for presenters and members of employee organizations and trade unions (including travel and accommodation) will be covered according to the EZA rules.
Seminar was financially supported by the European union.
Seminar was attended by 65 participants, including 4 interpreters and 1 technician. Following EZA partner-organizations participated – NKOS, ZKRS, KAB. Number of foreign participatns: Poland 1, Germany 1, Austria 1, Slovakia 15, Ukraine 2, Czechia 40 participants–KAP members. A total of 12 presentations were presented by speakers from Poland (1), Germany (1), Austria (1), S(1), Ukrajiny (2) a z České republiky (6).
The aim of the seminar was to evaluate growth of society’s well-being which is reflected in the long-term growth of people’s purchasing power. European countries have long experienced economic development, which led to an increase in the population’s purchasing power. However, the current crisis, the accompanying phenomenon of which is the highest inflation in EU countries for many years (some even decades), is leading to a decrease in the purchasing power of a large part of the population – this especially applies to socially weaker groups and employees. At the same time, this development deepens income and wealth disparities between individuals or regions within individual countries. In addition to disparities within individual countries, there is disproportion across EU countries; current inflation affects post-socialist economies more, either because of their higher energy dependence on Russia or because of nominal convergence.
The added value of the seminar was a better understanding of the consequences associated with high and unpredictable inflationary developments. These insights can be used to create a Christian-social policy that enables workers’ rights to be defended, social peace to be ensured, and inflationary pressures in the economy to be reduced through responsible fiscal policy. This seminar contributed to a better understanding of the mentioned consequences within tripartite negotiations and collective bargaining framework.
Program:
Friday panel included six contributions looking at inflation from different perspectives. Inflation was viewed as a global challenge that deepens changes in consumer behavior (Lidmila Němcová) and as a significant cause of redistribution in society with the greatest negative impact on the poorer population in the Czech Republic (Michal Mádr) and Slovakia (Ľubica Černá). The phenomenon of inflation was put into a long-term world context with the development of the standard of living (Richard Pospíšil) and further, it was presented how the observed phenomenon is related to the transformation of the source of wealth and how it influenced the view of the concept of useful work (Marko-Bohdan Kalynyak). An example from practice was a contribution focused on the effects of inflation on the social policy and social cohesion on the example of a company that employs disabled citizens (Olga Rosenbergerová).
Saturday program included two discussion panels in Brno. The first one took place in the Czech National Bank branch, where there was discussed the role of central banks in price stability maintenance. The second one took place in the Augustinian abbey.
Sunday panel was primarily devoted to inflationary developments in the German economy, both current trends (Miriam Catulo), and the German hyperinflation 1920s (Kazimierz Falak). Both contributions made it possible to highlight similarities and differences in the causes and consequences of inflation using the example of Germany, the most crucial European economy. At the same time, both contributions dealt with the reaction of the German government and the government’s ability to stabilize price developments in the given country. The contributions also discussed how a higher inflation rate could lead to the growth of radical parties through the reduction of voter confidence in the democratic system, which is important in the context of current developments not only in the Federal Republic of Germany. This panel was supplemented by a third contribution, which offered the perspective of Catholic social teaching on the division of labour in the context of global challenges, including inflationary developments (Bolek Vraný, KAP board member).
Křesťan a práce, z. s. Czech Republic EZA-European Centre for Workers’ Questions
Programme of the KAP Seminar in Velehrad, September 20 to 22, 2024 Funded by the European Union as EZA project No. 40-02-24-SE “Inflation and loss of purchasing power“
Panel 1, moderated by Radek Náplava, PhD., FBE MENDELU, KAP Assoc. Prof. Lidmila Němcová, KAP board member – Inflation and consumer behaviour dr. Michal Mádr, FBE MENDELU, KAP – Economic and political impacts of inflation
15.00
Coffee break
15.30
Prof. Richard Pospíšil, UPOL – Inflation phenomenon and living standard
16.15
Assoc. Prof. Pavel Žufan, FBE MENDELU, KAP – Work inequalities in later life redefined by digitalization
16.35
Marko-Bohdan Kalynyak, Andrii Levyk, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine – Sources of wealth and the concept of useful work
17.00
Coffee break
17.30
Mgr. Olga Rosenbergerová, vice-chair of EAPN in CZ – Lost in today’s world – Social cohesion and social state
18.00
Assoc. Prof. Ľubica Černá, President of NKOS Slovakia – Impact of inflation on families – experience from Slovakia
18.30
Dinner at Stojanov House
Saturday
21. 9. 2024
7.30
Breakfast at Stojanov House
8.30
Departure by bus to Brno
10.00
Panel 2, moderated by Prof. Lubor Lacina, KAP
Czech national bank, Brno – discussion session: Role of central banks in maintaining price stability
12.30
Lunch
14.00
Panel 3, moderated by Prof. Lubor Lacina, KAP Villa Stiassni,
roundtable: Role of Czechoslovak currency and its stability in the between-war period and impact of German hyperinflation
17.00
Departure back to Velehrad
19.30
Dinner at Stojan´s Grammar School, Velehrad
Sunday
22. 9. 2024
8.00
Breakfast at Stojanov House
9.00
Panel 4, moderated by Michal Mádr, Ph.D., FBE MENDELU, KAP
Opening word summarizing the first two days of the programme by Prof. Lacina
9.20
Boleslav Vraný, PhD., KAP – Labour Division in the Church Social Teaching Context
10.00
Coffee break
10.20
Foreign participants’ panel Miriam Catullo, KAB Aachen, Germany – Income sources and inflation Maga. Gabriele Kienesberger, KABÖ Austria – Models and perspectives for a future of fair caring in the light of fair wages Kazimierz Falak, Poznan University, Poland – Lessons from German inter-war hyperinflation Mag. Barbara Mayrhofer, SIIAEC, KAV Wien, Austria – Modernized operations and stronger organization’s resilience by introducing new services
12.00
Conclusions of the seminar Jiří Konečný Lubor Lacina Pavel Žufan
12.30
Lunch at Stojanov House
Departure of participants
Organizational information Registration of participants: Stojanov Pilgrimage House, ground floor Venue: Slavonic Hall of Stojan´s Grammar School Catering and accommodation: Stojanov Pilgrimage House, dining room Foreign participants: Skanzen Velehrad Hotel Information Centre in Velehrad Interpreting into English and German
Jiří Konečný, Chairman of KAP Marie Čapková, Vice-Chairwoman of KAP Lubor Lacina, seminar guarantor, KAP
This year’s topic was “European elections 2024 and beyond: European democracy and the EU’s social dimension at stake”, and the conference was held in Brussels. Our association was represented there, and thus we can share the link to the EZA report including links to the particular presentations: https://www.eza.org/en/spalte-1/eza-in-bruessel/bruesselkonferenzen/bruessel-konferenz-2024.
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