Abstract:

The service sector helps create jobs in Slovakia, it must be sustainable and ready for new challenges. The challenge for the sector will be to prepare the current and future generations of the workforce to be able to embrace the coming digital developments. The expected changes require an educated workforce with new expertise. The aim of the contribution is the analysis of the current educational level of employees working in the department, the monitoring of employers' satisfaction with the preparation of graduates for practice and the prediction of the employment of university graduates in this sector in the future. To fulfill the main goal, several scientific methods were used, especially the method of electronic and telephone inquiries, semi-structured interviews with employers, statistical analyzes and syntheses. The paper presents the primary research findings over a period of 5 years in the context of other research, studies and knowledge of the professional public on the issue. The research was conducted on a sample of 250 University of Žilina graduates. The results show that the average age of employees in the sector is high (46 years), which will cause a shortage of employees in the future. The share of university-educated employees in the sector is growing (currently 23%), and sector employs 4.6% of all university-educated employees in the Slovak Republic. Until 2025, 12,800 university graduates are expected to enter the labor market, having completed their studies in one of the corresponding fields suitable for employment in sector. A threat to the sector is the fact that graduates do not perform the profession they graduated from or go to work abroad (approximately 87 % of graduates are likely to find employment in other sectors). In the future, this will be reflected in the lack of qualified labor in key professions. An opportunity for employers, in dealing with these problems, is the intensification of cooperation with the academic community in the preparation of professionally capable university graduates (providing students with motivational scholarships, the opportunity to practice at their workplaces, and the cooperation in solving bachelor's and diploma theses, selected lectures from practice). This will increase employers' satisfaction with the preparation of university graduates for the performance of their profession, and support employer brand building.

Keywords:

Services, university graduates, employers´ satisfaction.