POSSIBILITIES AND PROSPECTS FOR SOLUTION OF RURAL EMPLOYMENT

The article deals with the prospects for a solution to rural employment in Slovakia. It defines rural space according to the OECD definition and outlines the starting points for a future strategy of solution to rural employment. It identifies the most important factors shaping the development of this area such as, for instance, pressures on labor mobility and labor productivity, demands for improvement of human capital, the infrastructure facilities, restructuring and diversification of rural economy, and changes in a demographic evolution. The outlined perspective of the solution consists indeed in two dimensions, i.e. the development of the human resources and the increase in the entrepreneurial and regional competitiveness. It argues that a continuation of the present situation sets up a danger of the persistence of dual economy and growing socially unacceptable differentiation, including the persistence of the unequal opportunities for the population and the entrepreneurial activities as well particularly in the remote and economically underdeveloped regions. With regard to the significant regional disparities and reduced competitiveness of the economically disadvantaged rural areas, it is necessary to solve this problem progressively and, in particular, systematically.