As stated in the announcement on the Institute’s website, according to seasonally adjusted data, the OVI index recorded an increase of 5.4 percent in January compared to the previous month, which is an improvement compared to December when the index fell by 2.5 percent on a monthly basis. The growth is even more pronounced on a yearly basis as the 10.1 percent achieved compared to January last year is a significantly higher growth rate than the three percent recorded in the last month of last year.
– After the index rose by 4.7 percent in the last quarter of last year compared to the previous quarter, judging by the seasonally adjusted data for January this year, growth on a quarterly basis is certain in the first quarter of this year, although for a higher level of reliability, we should wait for at least the data for February – noted the EIZ.
Most sought-after occupations are salespersons, cooks, and accountants
Salespersons, cooks, and accountants are the most sought-after occupations, while waiters have fallen to fourth place this time, and warehouse workers have taken a high fifth position. The largest absolute decrease in the number of advertisements on a yearly basis in January was recorded for the occupations of programmer and construction worker, while the largest increase was observed for salespersons, accountants, and nurses, highlighted the EIZ.
Compared to January 2022, the share of advertisements seeking secondary vocational education significantly increased, from 31.4 to 35.2 percent, as well as unskilled work, whose share rose from 6.8 to 9.6 percent. In accordance with the current conditions in the Croatian labor market, the share of advertisements offering indefinite contracts increased from 45.3 to 46 percent, while the share of advertisements offering fixed-term contracts also slightly increased over the year, from 46.3 to 46.8 percent.
Regarding the geographical distribution of jobs, the number of advertisements recorded an increase in all Croatian regions, the highest in the northern Adriatic, by as much as 44.2 percent, which most likely indicates that this year the demand for seasonal work started somewhat earlier than usual, noted EIZ analysts.
The continental part of Croatia recorded an increase in the number of advertisements, with eastern Croatia surprisingly leading with an annual growth rate of 17.4 percent. The largest positive contribution to the growth in the number of advertisements in eastern Croatia came from advertisements for cooks, salespersons, and waiters, as stated in the EIZ announcement.
The OVI – Online Vacancy Index is a monthly index of online job advertisements developed at the Economic Institute in collaboration with the MojPosao portal, and its purpose is to provide timely information about the current state of demand for work. The OVI index is compiled by simply counting the number of unique new advertisements whose application deadlines end in the month for which the index is calculated. Since only advertisements published through one portal are taken into account, the number of advertisements is expressed as an index (the base year is 2015).
