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.
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