Thousands in construction industry may lose jobs

Planned cuts to investments in 2010 may bring the construction industry to its knees, the Association of Construction Firms said on Monday. According to the latest estimates of the Czech Business Chamber around 40,000 people in the construction industry may lose their jobs in the coming year. The construction business will be severely impacted by the Transport Ministry’s decision to freeze all non-essential building projects. Cuts in 2009, which the finance minister described as a “warm-up” resulted in a 40 percent drop in public orders in the first half of this year.