The Online Vacancy Index (OVI) for 2023 shows that demand for labor increased by 3.6 percent compared to 2022, and although somewhat modest compared to previous years, it indicates further growth in labor demand, which is at historically high levels, reported the Economic Institute, Zagreb.
As highlighted in the announcement on the EIZ website, the cause of the certain slowdown is at least partially hidden in base effects. However, compared to the pre-crisis year of 2019, the total number of online ads in 2023 was higher by 37 percent, indicating that demand in the Croatian labor market is at historically high levels, the EIZ reported.
Almost the entire contribution to the annual growth in demand came from ads seeking workers with secondary education, while the demand for employees with higher education and low qualifications contributed only half a percentage point.
Therefore, the share of ads for secondary education increased by 1.2 percentage points to 61.9 percent, while the shares for higher education and low qualifications decreased during the past year.
Most Interest Declined for Programmers
Supporting this are the data on the five most sought-after occupations, which included positions for salespeople, waiters, cooks, warehouse workers, and drivers, which rose from sixth to fifth place compared to 2022, replacing the position of accountant.
The largest contribution to the overall annual growth in labor demand was recorded in ads seeking salespeople, warehouse workers, and drivers, while among the largest negative contributions were programmers, IT specialists, designers, and cooks.
On the ranking list of the most sought-after occupations, interest in programmers fell the most, dropping from 12th to 23rd place, while telemarketers and teachers rose four places – telemarketers from 23rd to 19th, and teachers from 14th to 10th place, the EIZ noted.
