Survey: Job Security Seen as Top Priority for Slovaks, Income Comes Third

Bratislava, 13 September (TASR) – For 90 percent of people in Slovakia, job security is the most important factor in terms of employment, followed by how interesting the job is, while a high income ranks only third, according to the Work Orientations 2025 study conducted by the Sociology Department at the Faculty of Arts of Comenius University in Bratislava in cooperation with Focus agency. "Among other notable findings, three quarters of people (75.1 percent) consider it important for their job to enable them to help others, and 67.5 percent value the social usefulness of their work,” said Daniel Gerbery and Roman Dzambazovic from the Department of Sociology. The sociologists pointed out that many Slovaks perceive work as something important within itself. Although a total of 46 percent of respondents agreed that a job is merely a way to earn money, 48 percent said that they would continue working even if they didn't need to earn an income. Respondents also commented on the impact of digitisation. More than half of the population (53.7 percent) believe that new technologies are more likely to eliminate jobs than to create them. Almost one in five employed people (19.3 percent) fear that their job will be replaced by artificial intelligence or robots within the next five years. The main perceived threats to job security include labour migration (29.8 percent), the relocation of production to cheaper countries (24.8 percent), and increasing demands for new skills (23.6 percent). The sociologists also explored the prevalence of multiple job holders. In Slovakia, 10.9 percent of individuals have a second paid job alongside their main employment, mainly for financial reasons. The study further found that most respondents view trade unions positively. A total of 59.5 percent consider strong unions important for defending workers' interests. The majority (61.5 percent) were informed about union activities, and 63.1 percent expressed satisfaction with their work. The research is part of an international project called International Social Survey Programme, which involves participation from 45 countries. The data was collected in May and June 2025 from a representative sample of 1,203 adults via a questionnaire survey. mf/df