EMPLOYERS IN EASTERN SLOVAKIA ARE PLANNING RECORD HIRING

• 32 % of Slovak employers expect an increase in the number of employees, 17 % expect a decrease and 46 % expect no change, the rest do not comment.
• Based on these data, seasonally adjusted Slovakia’s Net Employment Outlook is + 17 % for the first quarter of 2024.
• The highest Net Employment Outlook is in eastern Slovakia (+ 19 %), Bratislava and western Slovakia, respectively, + 16 %, and the lowest in central Slovakia (+ 4 %).
• Transport, Logistics and Automotive sectors (+ 27 %) Communication Services (+20) and IT (+ 19 %) report the strongest hiring intentions
• Globally, for Q1 the most optimistic hiring outlooks are reported by organizations in in India (37 %), the Netherlands (37 %), Costa Rica (35 %) and the USA (35 %), while the least optimistic outlooks are in Hungary (10 %), Japan (10 %), the Czech Republic (8 %) and Argentina (2 %).

Bratislava (14 December 2023) – Slovak companies report strong hiring intentions in early 2024, with employers’ recruitment plans exceeding many years maximum in eastern Slovakia. This is shown by the results of a regular quarterly ManpowerGroup Net Employment Outlook Survey, carried out on a sample of 510 employers.

Employers in the neighboring Czech Republic and Hungary are among the least optimistic and are on the tail of the current global ranking.

The seasonally adjusted Net Employment Outlook in Slovakia is + 17 %. Compared to the previous quarter, this is an increase of 2 percentage points, an increase of 11 percentage points year-on-year.

Globally, the Net Employment Outlook for the first quarter of 2024, is + 26 %, which is 3 percentage points higher than a year ago, and 4 percentage points lower than last quarter.

“Employers in Europe are still the most cautious globally and expect more moderate recruitment than businesses in other parts of the world. However, in Slovakia, employers’ recruitment plans for the next quarter are among the highest we have seen in several years. They only were higher in the first quarter of 2022," said Zuzana Rumiz, General Manager of ManpowerGroup Slovakia.

“As companies continue to transform their business models, many of them focus on retaining the talents they have while trying to find people with the new skills they need. Our survey also showed that companies are willing to offer flexible forms of work because they realize that this gives them a competitive advantage in attracting and retaining employees. As the deployment of AI is gaining momentum, employers also focus on extending the skills of their employees, to maximize potential productivity gains,” Mrs. Rumiz stated.

COMPARISON OF RECRUITMENT PLANS BY INDUSTRY

Companies in the Transport, Logistics and Automotive sectors report the strongest outlook in the first quarter (Net Employment Outlook + 27 %). This is an increase of up to 16 percentage points compared to last quarter. This is an increase of 17 percentage points year-on-year.

Companies in the Communications Services sector (+ 20 %) are also planning to recruit strongly. This is an increase of 35 percentage points year-on-year.

REGIONAL COMPARISON

Employers in all regions of Slovakia plan to recruit more people than lay off. The strongest hiring intentions report employers in eastern Slovakia, where the Net Employment Outlook is + 19 %, the highest value in more than a decade of the ManpowerGroup Slovakia survey. This is an improvement of 8 percentage points quarterly and 16 percentage points year-on-year.

In Bratislava and western Slovakia, the Net Employment Outlook is equal to + 16 %. Central Slovakia (+ 4 %) reports the weakest hiring intentions. The Net Employment Outlook declined by 7 percentage points quarter on quarter and rose by 8 percentage points year-on-year.

COMPARISON BY SIZE OF COMPANIES

The largest number of employees are planned to be hired by large firms employing over 5,000 employees, with a Net Employment Outlook of + 26 %. These are followed by companies employing between 50 and 249 employees (+ 24 %), firms with a size of 10-49 employees and 250-999 employees reaching the same Net Employment Outlook + 16. Companies from 1,000 to 4999 employees are the most careful (+ 5 %) in their recruitment plans.

GLOBAL DEVELOPMENTS IN THE LABOUR MARKET

• While global Outlooks have weakened by -4% since Q4 2023, they have increased by +3% compared to Q1 2023
• The strongest hiring is anticipated in North America (34%), followed by Asia Pacific (30%), South and Central Americas (28%), and Europe, Middle East, and Africa (23%)
• By country, the strongest hiring plans are reported in India (37%), the Netherlands (37%), and Costa Rica (35%), and the U.S. (35%), while the weakest outlooks are in Hungary (10%), Japan (10%), Czech Republic (8%), and Argentina (2%)
• Employers in Hungary (+20%), Poland (+18%), and the Netherlands (+17%) reported the largest year-over-year increases in hiring outlook, while Argentina (-10%), Peru (-10%), Israel (-11%), and Panama (-18%) saw the steepest declines
• The IT industry had the brightest global hiring outlook at 36%, followed by Financials & Real Estate at 34%, Communication Services at 31%, Health Care & Life Sciences and Industrials & Materials both at 28%.

INCREASING EMPLOYEES´ SKILLS IS A MUST

• 79 % of Slovak employers reported in the ManpowerGroup survey that they face difficulties in finding employees with the necessary skills, while a quarter of employers face significant difficulties.
• To attract and retain the employees they need, Slovak employers also offer more flexibility in work (45 %), but this is a lower percentage share of employers than globally (65 %). Employers are also forced to raise wages (29 %) and offer entry bonuses (23 %).
• The top five skills are engineering skills, IT skills, manufacturing skills, business and marketing skills, and HR skills.
• When asked about Artificial Intelligence (AI), employers cite training staff, finding qualified talent, and redefining roles as the top challenges to fully leverage the technology
• As companies adopt more sustainable practices, employers estimate at least 54% of all technical skills will need to evolve to keep pace with the green transition.