Slovakia's shortage occupation list: the fast track for hiring foreign workers

The list of occupations with a labour shortage is published by the Central Office of Labour, Social Affairs and Family by region and by quarter. Where the job sits on the list for that region, the procedure for temporary residence for the purpose of employment is shortened. The third quarter 2026 edition runs to 31 October 2026 at the latest.

How the list is read

The list is not a single national roster of trades. ÚPSVaR publishes it by self governing region, and an entry applies to every district of that region. The first question in a hiring plan is therefore not whether welders are on the list, but whether they are on the list in the region where the site is. The same job can be a shortage occupation in one region and not in the one next to it.

The second parameter is time. The list is issued quarterly and each edition replaces the one before it. The third quarter 2026 edition, per ÚPSVaR, runs to 31 October 2026 at the latest. What counts is the state of the list while the procedure is running, so a file prepared close to a quarter boundary should be filed before the current entry lapses.

Historically the simplified regime was tied to districts with a registered unemployment rate below 5 percent under Act No. 5/2004 Coll. Today the advantage rides on the entry itself for the relevant region, which is easier to plan against: you check one line, not a monthly district statistic.

Which sectors hold the list

Across the regions, the ÚPSVaR editions keep returning three blocks: healthcare and social care, construction, and transport together with industrial manufacturing. The named blue collar trades include welders, metal machining operators and assembly workers, which are the same posts employers fill from third countries in the neighbouring corridors.

The list is built from the register of vacancies and the register of jobseekers, which the Central Office evaluates region by region. An occupation joins it where employer demand in that region has run ahead of the number of available candidates holding the required qualification. That is why the composition moves at the edges rather than at the core from quarter to quarter: healthcare and construction trades hold, while individual manufacturing posts come and go as plants open or wind down in the region.

The agency line decides the model for many employers. A temporary work agency may assign a third country national only to an occupation carried on the list, and only where the agency itself has been operating for at least 3 years. Anyone hiring through an agency therefore checks two things at once: the entry for the region, and the agency's time on the market. If either is missing, the assignment is not lawful and the file stops before it is filed.

What the list does not shorten

An entry does not remove the duty to report the vacancy to the labour office, and it does not relax the requirement of comparable working and pay conditions. What is shortened is the residence procedure, not the employer's duties after the start date. The notice of start and end of employment within 7 working days under Act No. 5/2004 Coll. applies to shortage and non shortage occupations alike. There is no fee for an entry; the list is a public document of the Central Office, and the cost is again time plus the administrative fees on the residence side.

When planning a recruitment round it is worth saving the edition you worked from, together with the date you downloaded it. At an inspection, or on a refiling, you have to show that the entry held while the procedure was running, and the Central Office does not keep older editions in one place on its site. It is one page of a document that saves weeks of argument.

The full sequence from the vacancy report to the notice of start is set out in the employer procedure for hiring a third country national in Slovakia. The registration periods are covered in the labour market test and the vacancy confirmation, and how Slovakia compares with other corridors is in the timeline by country.

Before each hire, check the current edition of the list for the region the site sits in, and the date it runs to. To have a list of roles measured against the current edition and against a start date, our team is reachable through the employers page.