Attitudes of South Bohemian Employers to Hiring Roman People

The objective of our research was to analyze the attitudes of employers in the South Bohemian Region to hiring Romani, the willingness to hire members of this minority, and potential reasons why they are rejected on the labor market. The research was conducted in the form of an on-line questionnaire survey and it was distributed via e-mail. Managers of South Bohemian companies from various branches were targeted and constitute the research set. We had sent out 130 questionnaires and received 27 answers. The data was processed via descriptive statistics and statistic testing of correlations. 37% stated that as of right now they employ Romani; in all cases they constituted 5% of their employees. Reasons why companies do not employ Romani touched on several issues. The main reason was perceived as the unwillingness of Romani workers to be employed in the company (59% answered that it is a very common reason) or be legally employed in general (37%), insufficient education (59%), and wrong qualifications (37%). On the other hand, employers do not think explicitly that they would prefer non-Romani employees or that Romani would not fit into the team. The working characteristics of Romani, such as being on time, being reliable, or communicating, were also not rated negatively. Companies would primarily hire Romani based on good qualifications (70%) and good references (56%). On the other hand the offered system benefits, such as tax advantages, were not perceived positively. Experiences with Romani employees were rated as slightly negative, primarily when it came to work attendance, performance, and behavior. The semantic differential aimed at evaluating the characteristics of Romani also presented a majority of slightly negative evaluations when it came to reliability, diligence, activity, education, and character. A surprising finding was that Romani were not attributed to misusing the system since this stereotype can often be found in the general public discourse in the Czech Republic. Statistical analyses uncovered a significant relationship between experience with hiring Romani and some characteristics, as well as between the experience items.