O15 - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; MigrationReturn

The effectiveness of education policies and economic, social and environmental conditions play a crucial role in a country’s ability to attract intellectual capital and influence emigration levels. Effective management of migration processes requires coordinating and synchronizing policies across various economic sectors to address the complexity of these dynamics. This study employs a two-step system of the generalized method of moments (GMM) to analyse the impacts of population literacy and ICT skills on migration patterns in EU countries in the period 2007–2022. The findings underscore the importance of enhancing ICT skills and improving education systems. Population literacy has a statistically significant nonlinear impact on the net migration rate. Initially, higher literacy may lead to more emigration and lower net migration. However, as literacy rates reach very high levels, the country becomes more attractive to immigrants, leading to greater net migration. A 1% increase in ICT skills can significantly boost a country's ability to attract skilled migrants by up to 5%. Policymakers need to ensure that increasing literacy rates are complemented by sufficient local opportunities to retain the educated population.
Implications for Central European audience: This study highlights key strategies for Central European countries to manage migration and foster sustainable development. Investing in ICT skills and lifelong learning, increasing R&D to at least 1% and implementing balanced trade policies can attract and retain talent. Promoting sustainable economic growth improves living standards, reducing migration outflows. Tailored migration policies that address diverse migrant needs enhance integration and retention. Adopting data-driven approaches for continuous policy improvement ensures adaptability to emerging challenges. These combined efforts support a competitive workforce and long-term economic resilience, positioning Central Europe as a hub for innovation and sustainable growth.

This research explores the relationship between the recruitment process and turnover intentions, with the mediating role of affective commitment among Generation Z working in European enterprises operating in Vietnam. Specifically, the study explores the relationship between job description, job evaluation, job specification, job analysis and affective commitment of Generation Z while also identifying the influence of affective commitment on turnover intentions. Based on the theoretical and literature summary, the research model is proposed. Accordingly, hypotheses are developed, and we apply a quantitative analysis with a research sample of 250 Generation Z respondents working for European businesses in Vietnam using the snowball sampling technique. Questionnaires were designed in the form of an online survey (using Google Forms) and sent privately via personal emails to respondents. The collected data were then processed and analysed by SPSS v.22 and AMOS software to estimate the research model, test hypotheses and evaluate the impact of variables on turnover intentions. The research results reveal that job description contributes to enhancing affective commitment (0.232), job evaluation positively influences affective commitment (0.283), job specification significantly affects affective commitment (0.184), job analysis has a strong and positive relationship with affective commitment (0.532) and affective commitment negatively influences turnover intentions (-0.433). Based on the research findings, we propose some managerial policy implications for Central European enterprises to increase the affective commitment of their employees, including (1) regularly reviewing and updating the requirements as well as job descriptions for each position, ensuring that they accurately reflect the tasks that employees need to perform. This helps the company provide clearer guidance on roles and expectations for employees from the outset; (2) overcoming cultural barriers and fostering a sense of inclusion and respect for the unique values and work expectations of Vietnamese employees, which helps employees perform better in their jobs while also enhancing their commitment and expectations; (3) creating a flexible workplace that meets Generation Z employees' needs to attract and retain talent effectively; and (4) emphasizing a supportive team environment, job-life integration and  meaningful work through recruitment marketing.
Implications for the Central European audience: The insights gained from the research are particularly relevant for Central European enterprises looking to navigate the challenges and opportunities of the Generation Z workforce in Vietnam. Our insights on managing new-generation workforces in a developing and emerging country context can guide Central European enterprises in tailoring their strategies when expanding their businesses into Southeast Asian countries that have some characteristics in common with Vietnam regarding economic development, culture, population, technology level, etc. It emphasizes the significance of comprehending local dynamics and meeting employees’ needs to improve affective commitment through aspects of the recruitment process to reduce turnover intentions. The results can be used by companies in a variety of fields, sizes, r

This article examines the challenges of integrating new employees into a company in an environment where remote work is growing significantly. The reference situation is the COVID-19 crisis, seen as a case study. To describe the process as accurately as possible and to identify areas of diligence, we use a mixed method based on 51 questionnaires containing numerous open-ended questions and eight semi-structured interviews. The descriptive part of our analysis allows us to focus on the link between the degree of experience and the proactivity of newcomers. It also reveals the differing expectations that newcomers may have regarding what integration should entail. Applying methods from grounded theory, we identify five key areas for companies wishing to effectively integrate their collaborators. The article concludes with the need for companies to return to implementing integration tactics and devices and make the process less dependent on employee proactivity. To continue, it seems crucial to focus on further research for a better understanding of what each individual expects from integration, particularly when new generations are concerned.
Implications for Central European audience: In today's fast-changing environment, swift integration of new employees is increasingly becoming a key success factor. However, the rapid growth of remote activities within companies presents a new constraint that must be considered. Additionally, it is essential to recognize that newer generations may perceive the integration process itself differently or may be less willing to invest effort in it. This research represents one of the first inquiries into this emerging issue.

More efficient and productive employees enable businesses to achieve better results, innovate, enhance the quality of products and services and respond to changing market conditions. The research therefore focuses on an analysis of procrastination at work in Slovak SMEs. We focus on the prevalence of procrastination and demographic determinants that were investigated and analysed among 253 administrative employees of various SMEs in Slovakia. Quantitative research was carried out by online inquiry using the standard questionnaire Procrastination at Work Scale, which focuses on online and offline employee procrastination and its total score. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play a crucial role in maintaining economic stability in Slovakia. They generate jobs, stimulate local markets and contribute to overall GDP growth. They are not only the driving force of innovation but can be characterised by flexibility and the ability to react quickly to changes on the market. They also contribute to increasing the country's competitiveness and balanced regional development. However, the performance of SMEs depends on the productivity of employees. Motivating employees is essential for businesses as it boosts employee efficiency, productivity and performance, promotes collaboration and stimulates creativity and innovation.
Implications for Central European audience: The present study provides answers to many questions and can help SMEs obtain the necessary recommendations that are applicable in practice in the field of motivation. Addressing this issue opens up the ground for conducting similar research dealing with global changes in management of small and medium-sized enterprises.

Migration processes have emerged as crucial social, political and economic concerns, affecting societies, industries and organisations. The challenge lies in effectively utilizing immigrants' resources. This research aims to determine how AI tools can support matching migrants' skills with labour markets in host countries. We propose the application of an ensemble learning methodology. To validate this approach, we collect data to assess the career trajectories of 248 tertiary-educated Ukrainian immigrants in Poland, a new immigration destination. Various machine learning models are evaluated using the decision tree algorithm on these feature sets. To ensure credible results, a 10-fold cross-validation procedure is employed for each training process of every submodel. This research introduces an original ensemble machine learning classifier that combines pre-selected models with the highest performance, thereby reducing the number of parameters to be investigated. Its application in determining the career paths of highly skilled migrants, specifically Ukrainians, is novel. The study offers significant implications for Central Europe, notably Poland, where migration patterns and the integration of highly skilled migrants, mainly from Ukraine, are increasingly important.
Implications for Central European audience: The ensemble machine learning classifier developed in this study could aid in optimising the career paths of these migrants, combating brain waste and facilitating their successful integration into the labour market. Integrating tools like these into decision-making processes may enhance career management and contribute to Central Europe's social and economic growth.

Global dynamics, including globalization, resource mobility and capital flow, have profoundly transformed countries' long-term development policies and shaped migrants' motivations. Beyond traditional socioeconomic considerations, migrants prioritize a country's global brand and image, extending beyond economics to cultural, social and environmental factors. The paper aims to test the hypothesis positing a statistically significant correlation between the net migration index and the perceptions of a country's brand by external stakeholders. The study applies the ANOVA test to check the research hypothesis. The object of investigation is EU countries from 2000 to 2020. The ANOVA testing results highlight the significant influence of a country's brand on migration processes, serving as either a catalyst or an inhibitor. The study emphasizes the need to align national migration policies with effective national branding strategies to capitalize on the positive image of countries and attract intellectual capital. Policymakers should recognize the significant impact of a country's brand perception on migration patterns and consider sustainable practices to enhance overall attractiveness.
Implications for Central European audience: For the Central European audience, the study suggests that fostering a positive national brand is crucial in attracting skilled migrants and intellectual capital. Policymakers in Central European countries should consider integrating branding strategies into their migration policies to enhance global competitiveness and address demographic challenges through the attraction of qualified professionals. Central European countries should strategically attract a diverse array of migrants by making use of their unique historical and cultural heritage, emphasizing achievements in democracy and human rights, maintaining an affordable yet high standard of living, capitalizing on their pivotal economic position and showcasing both traditional and contemporary contributions, thereby creating a compelling narrative for sustained economic growth and cultural enrichment.

Trends such as advances in digital technologies and diversity in talent management necessitate continuous learning in the workplace and make European employers think about what competencies of their employees, in addition to basic digital competencies, are most in demand both today and in the foreseeable future. Considering this, identifying the main trends in employee training and development in the automotive industry in Central Europe and their impact on current and future competency profiles becomes the main purpose of this article. Both primary and secondary data have been analysed. The qualitative methodology in this article is based on the processing of the primary data from eight semi-structured interviews conducted from June to October 2023 with human resource managers and learning and development managers of selected Czech companies related to the automotive sector. An essential secondary data source was Eurostat’s Continuous Vocational Training Survey on employee training and development within European countries in 2020 among 113,000 businesses. The findings in this article demonstrate that digital competency and soft skills are currently the most important competencies for employee development within the automotive sector in Central Europe.
Implications for Central European audience: The results presented in this article emphasise the importance of adapting actual employee training and development programmes to technology trends influencing the automotive industry. It has been proven that employees’ soft competencies are preferable today and will be in great demand in the next three years. This is because soft skills support the successful implementation of change and improve the competitiveness of the business in the long term, and both education and development managers and employees themselves realise this.

This study investigates the difficulties that expatriates encounter while relocating to a foreign cultural environment. The examination of the issue is based on the results of primary research conducted among the Japanese community living and working in Hungary. Many circumstances make it difficult for an expat to feel at ease in the host country. Integration and thus the success of the posting are greatly hampered by overcoming cultural differences as well as linguistic challenges in a non-English speaking country. Language fluency issues are stated to trigger a series of practical, task-related barriers as well as broader social and emotional difficulties. Japanese multinational corporations use English for internal corporate communication. The typical posting period for Japanese expats in Hungary is 4-6 years. They are typically senior executives who arrive together with their families. Over the years, the preparedness, language skills and cross-cultural competencies of the expatriates have improved significantly, while the infrastructure of the host country is also much better prepared to receive foreigners and their families.
Implications for Central European audience: The first Japanese MNCs arrived in Hungary more than 30 years ago, when the transition from a planned economy to a market-based economy was just beginning (Pierce, 1991; Andor, 2019; Jaklič et al., 2020). Japanese expats arrived in a country where, compared to their home country (Hideo, 1990), human resources management was not a recognized corporate function (Pierce, 1991). A typical posting period at that time was one to two years. Expatriates usually did not experience that as an honour or professional development (Matus, 2006).

The rapidly changing dynamics in the challenging work life have rendered the concept of well-being crucial and necessary for both organizations and employees. In recent years, there has been a consistent increase in studies focusing on employee well-being, driven by the understanding that happier employees tend to be more productive. However, the literature lacks a substantial number of critical examinations of well-being practices. While this gap in the literature has guided the scope of our work, it has also piqued our curiosity about criticisms of these practices, as well as positive attitudes and approaches towards them. With this study, our aim was to examine the positive and critical perspectives of various actors with different levels of knowledge and experience regarding well-being practices and to explore their needs to participate in well-being practices by relating them to Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory. In the light of the findings, another objective was to facilitate the integration of well-being practices as a philosophy/approach within organizations and enhance their more effective and comprehensive utilization.
Implications for Central European audience: When examining both common and differing views of the participants on well-being practices, the participants were positioned in different areas of a pyramid model. At the top, there are employees of the consultancy firm (Wellbees) and well-being experts, who evaluate well-being practices with a more idealistic, sophisticated and long-term perspective, without considering the current economic and social conditions of the country. In the middle level, there are HR managers whose views on well-being are limited to more job-oriented issues, rather than addressing employees’ higher-level needs. At the low level, there are employees who evaluate well-being practices from an individual perspective and find them beneficial in terms of socialization, building interactions and increasing motivation. It is inevitable to consider the views and approaches of all actors involved in well-being practices holistically to effectively manage.

A growing interest in human resource management (HRM) in small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has not been accompanied by increased knowledge of how different HRM policy orientations can affect SMEs' effectiveness. In this way, the goal of this paper is twofold: to test whether the orientation of HRM towards high-performance work practices (HPWP) –represented by the Abilities-Motivation-Opportunities (AMO) framework– allows SMEs to achieve better performance and to test the moderating role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) orientation. Based on a telephone questionnaire together with data collected from a sample consisting of 1,136 Spanish SMEs that operate in the industrial or services sector, our results show that SMEs perform better when HRM policies are oriented towards the AMO model. In addition, our findings highlight that this performance impact of orienting HRM towards HPWP is positively moderated by a CSR orientation. This paper thus complements HRM-related literature by adding new evidence exploring the impact of the AMO model on firm performance as well as the role played by CSR orientation within the SME context.
Implications for the central European audience: Managers should be aware of the importance of considering and implementing appropriate ability, motivation, and opportunity policies for their employees in order to enhance SME performance. In addition, the importance of a CSR orientation is highlighted, which intensifies the impact of HPWP on firm performance. This empirical paper brings evidence from the underexplored high-performance work policies in SMEs, given their importance in stimulating employee and organizational performance. It also takes into account the particularities of the Spanish context, where most businesses are considered to be SMEs.