Factors influencing labour shortages in Visegrad (V4) countries with regard to difficult economic environments

The central goal of this article was to investigate the current factors influencing labour shortages in the Visegrad Group (V4) countries, analyse the impact of external events such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian war on labour markets and examine how organisational characteristics contribute to these shortages. Furthermore, we aimed to identify patterns and variations in labour shortage causes across V4 countries to provide insights into the evolving dynamics of their labour markets. In the context of these research goals, we can confidently state that they have been realised. This achievement is attributable to the comprehensive analysis of the factors influencing labour shortages, the examination of the impact of external events and the exploration of organisational characteristics in contributing to labour market challenges. During our research, we examined three research questions. In doing so, we established that organisational characteristics (ownership form and size) are an important characteristic of labour market challenges. The challenges of the difficult economic situation require greater flexibility and an adaptive strategy from organisations. We also outlined that it is advisable to switch from traditional hierarchy-oriented transitive management to a more humane transformative management solution.