Nurses and general health care technicians and dental assistants who entered the Croatian labor market in the summer of 2015 are the first generation of workforce trained according to the needs of the economy.
They are a ‘product’ of the Croatian Qualifications Framework (HKO), a reform instrument of the educational system whose main goal is to improve the quality, relevance, and transparency of the educational system. Their education lasted five and four years, respectively, and the HKO emphasizes that the mentioned vocational curricula were developed in accordance with the needs of the labor market and expects good employability of the mentioned workforce, as well as those who will seek their first job in two to three years.
Therefore, entrepreneurs will soon have no reason to complain about the non-transparency of the educational system as there will be educated personnel, unless they end up on the global labor market. This could easily happen as more and more Croats want to work abroad, 47 percent according to a survey by the Moj posao portal, and the demand from foreign employers for Croatian workers is increasing, with 88 percent more ads published on Moj posao last year compared to the year before. The most sought-after candidates were for work in Germany, Hungary, Austria, the USA, and the UAE. The most in-demand were programmers, nurses, mechanical engineers, truck drivers, and welders, and 85 percent of ads offered permanent employment.
Eternal sellers and waiters On the Croatian labor market during 2015, the most sought-after were sellers, waiters, cooks, sales representatives, nurses, economists, teachers, programmers, graduated civil engineers, and lawyers, and there was also increased demand for civil engineers. Igor Žonja, director of the Moj posao portal, emphasizes that doctors and some other professions for which Moj posao is not a recruitment channel should be added. According to Žonja, it is essential today to use data on supply and demand in the labor market when choosing additional education or retraining. He warns that the Croatian educational system lacks flexibility and innovation in creating and implementing programs, and as a result, private education is flourishing, which has turned many shortcomings of the Croatian education system into successful business models.
Those who want to work and advance must constantly educate themselves, says Žonja, and he suggests learning foreign languages, especially English, as employers sought knowledge of foreign languages in 49 percent of ads last year, with advanced knowledge of English in as much as 54 percent of cases. Employers also consider IT literacy very important, and there is a high demand for programmers, who are also the highest paid. However, many are still not aware of the necessity of education for easier employment, as shown by a survey from the Moj posao portal in which only five percent of respondents said they would dedicate themselves to education, retraining, or advancement at work.
‘Green’ demand The higher the level of education, the easier it is to get employed, but there are also higher demands for additional competencies, emphasize the Croatian Employment Service. In recent years, this institution has recorded an increase in the need for experts in ‘green’ jobs or ‘greening’ jobs related to renewable energy sources and similar. The CES warns that the demand for personnel varies from county to county depending on the structure of the economy and that it is not advisable to provide specific lists of sought qualifications that would apply to the country as a whole.
The Ministry of Science, Education, and Sports believes that educational programs developed according to the methodology of the Croatian Qualifications Framework, according to which certain professions are already being trained, should guarantee a faster and more efficient process of employment and inclusion of personnel in the labor market in the near future. Although the state plays the main role in creating the educational system and creating conditions for its realization, employers have enabled the education of personnel for the needs of the labor market by equipping a certain number of vocational schools, and internships for students have also been enabled in many companies. However, not only do they provide internships for students, large companies in Croatia closely monitor the labor market and sponsor the education of personnel that is lacking.
Aleksandar Zemunić, a member of the management board of Selectio, claims that nothing has changed in the Croatian labor market in recent years, but that in Selectio’s ‘Employer Partner Certificate’ project, it can be seen how some global solutions to the mismatch between supply and demand are being applied in Croatia.
