In the first half of this year, the number of self-employed individuals in the Czech Republic rose by 19,000, hitting a record 1.174 million, according to data from the Czech Social Security Administration (\u010cSSZ). Notably, last year the total increase over twelve months was 28,000. This unusual spike has drawn attention, experts suggest it may not reflect increased entrepreneurial activity, but rather a consequence of the controversial \u201c\u0160varc system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The \u0160varc system refers to a form of disguised employment<\/strong>, where individuals who could legally be employed by a company instead register as self-employed. This enables them to work for a single company, often full-time and under the company’s direction, while avoiding the protections, taxes, and contributions associated with regular employment. The shift is often driven by companies and workers seeking to save on social security, health insurance, and other payroll costs. A recent study estimated that approximately 175,000 self-employed individuals in the Czech Republic may actually be partaking in the \u0160varc system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Regional data from the \u010cSSZ highlights that Prague hosts the highest number of registered self-employed individuals (221,000), followed by Central Bohemia (167,000) and South Moravia (132,000). However, experts caution that much of the rise may be an artifact: companies and workers may be converting employment relationships into trade license-based ones to sidestep increasingly costly and bureaucratic short-term work contracts, thereby inflating the numbers of \u201centrepreneurs\u201d without reflecting true entrepreneurial growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n According to critics, the Czech Republic stands out in the European Union for how prominently self-employment figures in its economy. Over 95 % of Czech enterprises employ between one and nine people, and these small businesses are the backbone of the job market, accounting for over one-third of total employment. In this context, the growth of purported entrepreneurs must be scrutinized: if driven by the \u0160varc system, it risks undermining workers’ protections, reducing public revenues, and destabilizing the labor market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While official figures indeed indicate a record-high number of self-employed individuals in the Czech Republic, the rise is likely fueled not completely by a genuine boom in entrepreneurship but by the spread of the \u0160varc system. Although legally self-employment is permitted, the \u0160varc variant disguised employment is illegal and controversial. The trend reflects economic actors responding to contract restrictions by \u201cshifting\u201d workers into self-employment, raising concerns about labor rights, public finances, and the accuracy of statistical indicators. AI generated image<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In the first half of this year, the number of self-employed individuals in the Czech Republic rose by 19,000, hitting a record 1.174 million, according to data from the Czech…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":15296,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[525,1],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-15286","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-en","8":"category-non-categorizzato"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/axevera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/axevera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/axevera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/axevera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/axevera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15286"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/axevera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15286\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15299,"href":"https:\/\/axevera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15286\/revisions\/15299"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/axevera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/axevera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/axevera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/axevera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15286"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/axevera.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=15286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\u0160varc System underlying the statistical record<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Broader implications and context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Conclusion: record numbers, distorted reality<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n