Manufacture of rubber and plastic products
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NACE 2002 - 25 Manufacture of rubber and plastic products
In spite of the consequence of the economic crisis, the manufacture of rubber and plastic products will offer relatively good prospects. This industry is, to a large degree, on the supply side, as its products are used as components in other industries (construction, mechanical engineering, the automotive industry, the food industry etc.). The dependence on these customers and their development will influence the future of this industry. Even though the crisis is now taking its toll, the long term outlook is good particularly for the plastics sector. The consumption of plastics per capita is still very low in the CR. In 2007 it was about half the EU-25 average. The rubber industry is more dependent on the car industry. Its outlook is therefore not so good and the recuperation period is likely to be longer.
Overall, employment in rubber and plastics manufacture will decrease in the long term. As the number of workers at productive age decreases in the Czech economy, this problem will not be so severe and there will continue to be good employment prospects in this industry, particularly for upper secondary qualifications holders. In terms of manual occupations, the structure of employment in this industry does not differ very much from that of developed countries. The number of jobs in manufacturing operations should decrease only slightly in years to come. Most operations of Czech manufacturers were built in the last couple of years and therefore they are fitted with relatively advanced technologies and, due to this, show higher labour productivity.
Technological changes in the manufacture of plastics will be affected by the development of nanotechnology. It is in this industry that nanotechnologies may contribute considerably to the enhancement of the functional characteristics of the products and facilitate their better use in many areas. However, the Czech plastics and rubber industry faces a shortage of human resources in the development field (the proportion of researchers and engineers in the industry is only around 2% as compared to 5% in EU-25). This may weaken the competitiveness of this promising industry.
