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Purpose: Currently, owing to the influence of rapid globalisation, the issue of international and cross-cultural implementation of cross-cultural relationships is being widely discussed. This is also related to the readiness of graduates for international cooperation. The objective of this qualitative study is to identify and compare the requirements of company representatives from the Czech Republic - the Vysocina Region and Austria (Region Upper Austria) regarding the readiness of graduates to entering the workforce and the intercultural differences between the relevant regions. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 20 Czech and Austrian companies from the relevant regions participated in the research. The results were obtained through in-depth guided interviews and a comparative method.

Findings: The qualitative study has theoretical implications in the context of new findings in the field of research. It contributes to the knowledge relating to the preparation of graduates for entering the workforce, and in the context of intercultural development, it extends this knowledge with the identified weaknesses of the mentioned preparation at the level of Czech or Austrian education. Originality/value: The most effective and probable approach to enhance the development of cross-cultural competences in particular appears to be the integration of new techniques and content of education in the form of new subjects in cooperation with academics and practitioners from the particular country. Collaboration with these experts can build students' knowledge and skills from an intercultural environment to the highest degree possible.

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