Job satisfaction in the light of gender in the engineering sector in Slovakia

The aggravation of the migration crisis in the country against the background of socio-economic instability in conditions of war has triggered the deterioration of the institutional and economic capacity of local governments to ensure further integration of internally displaced persons in the host society. The article aims to identify the resource and economic capacity of local governments in conditions of war to ensure the needs and adaptation of internally displaced persons to new living conditions (using the example of Pidberiztsivska Territorial Community of Lvivska Oblast). The research is based on a questionnaire survey in the form of in-depth interviews with the representatives of local governments. The sample consists of 20 persons; strata are formed in accordance with the staff units of local governments (head of the village council; representatives of the community’s administrative center and starostyn districts; heads of structural units of the village council). The paper emphasizes that local governments face a great challenge in ensuring the adaptation of internally displaced persons in the community, mainly related to the lack of free housing (according to 76.2% of respondents) and the labor surplus in the local market (over 20%). The results show that the majority of internally displaced persons see the community only as a place of “waiting” and seek to return to the former residence place (68.4% of the interviewed representatives of local government), so they shouldn’t be deemed as a potential community asset. Proactive tools for increasing the resource and economic capacity of local governments to ensure further integration of internally displaced persons include interaction with regional authorities, efficient use of the capacity of relocated businesses, cooperation with charitable foundations and NGOs to solve housing problems and create additional high-wage jobs.

A long, familiar stage of life ends with graduation from secondary school. The closure of this phase can also be seen as a loss or mourning: saying goodbye to high school, parting with old friends, teachers, environment, etc. After entering the university, young people will be not only new students of higher education, but also new participants in the labor market, which means that they will have to satisfy both needs at the same time. The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic complicates this situation. With this in mind, the purpose of this study is to understand the mental health status and problems of first-year students currently enrolled for three undergraduate business courses in Budapest. This research paper investigates whether the pressures, isolation, uncertainty, financial worries, loss of control, and moving back in with parents caused by the pandemic have had an impact on students’ mental health. This study used the EPOCH model. The EPOCH-H questionnaire was filled in by 1,719 first-year full-time students. Based on the results, a total of 8 main groups and its subgroups of factors were affected by the negative impact of the coronavirus pandemic. These students will be workers in the future carrying these effects with them. According to the results, students’ mental health needs to be strengthened in typical educational processes, and maintaining and improving students’ mental health should be the focus of all higher education institutions in the future.

To justify the production of green products, it is necessary to anticipate the choice of consumers toward products with different environmental friendliness. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the factors that determine this choice, particularly value factors. The study is based on the idea that a consumer is stimulated to eco-consumption by a set of values, not excluding individualist values; and the influence of values is mediated by motives. The purpose of the study is to develop the theoretical foundations of constructing a three-level system of value factors of green consumption on the example of office paper consumption. As a result, the study formed a system of factors containing preferences, motives, and values of office paper consumers. According to the proposed approach, for each respondent, quantitative characteristics of the elements of the system of factors were determined through a survey, which made it possible to identify correlation relationships between the elements. A pilot study was used to test the proposed approach to constructing a value factors system. The results of the pilot survey showed a positive connection between eco-friendliness of consumer preferences – through motives – with such values as “Nature,” “Self-development,” “Country success,” and “Social power.” This finding provides additional justification for the assumption that individuals are driven to green consumption not only by socially oriented values but also by individualistic values. Identifying the value factors of green consumption will allow predicting consumer behavior and influencing it through targeted marketing offers.