Analysis of forestry employment within the bioeconomy labour market in the Czech Republic

Abstract

Climate change, biodiversity loss, and the increased occurrence of extreme weather events bring new challenges at a global level, not just in forestry. In response to the current situation, modified economic models such as circular economy, green economy, bio-based economy, or bioeconomy, are expected to move society towards a more sustainable future. The main aim of this paper was to evaluate forestry employment and its drivers within the bioeconomy labour market in the Czech Republic. The partial target was to provide a general view of the development of forestry employment within the bioeconomy labour market. The authors applied a mixed methods approach, using literature review, data analysis, correlation analysis, and regression analysis. A decreasing trend of the share of forestry employment in total bioeconomy employment and of the share of bioeconomy employment in the labour market in the Czech Republic was identified. Regarding the drivers of the forestry labour market, based on the results, employment in the forestry sector is positively dependent on wages/salaries and negatively dependent on GDP and forest land.