Grafton: 2016 will be a breakthrough year for employers

Prague, 3 December 2015

The development and growth of the Czech economy, new large scale investment projects in IT, manufacturing, or SSCs, along with a decrease in unemployment are all factors that suggest activity in the labor market will be quite challenging next year. Finding a job will not be a problem, however the competition between companies to find talented candidates will become an issue. Based on the estimates made by Grafton Recruitment, the lack of qualified workforce, especially in IT, will further deepen, engineering will experience an increase in demand for both qualified and non-qualified workers. In order for employers to succeed, they need to rethink their approach, attitude and strategies, including recruitment tactics, and improve the working conditions they offer.

Year 2015 – unprecedented decrease in unemployment

A significant decrease in unemployment was already characteristic for the situation on the market this year. In the 3rd quarter of 2015, the general unemployment rate dropped below the level of 5% (4.9%), which represents a 1% decrease compared to last year. The last time in recent years the unemployment rate dropped this low was during the peak of the economic growth in all quarters in 2008 (4,61 %), the lowest rate overall was recorded in February 1997 (3,6 %). “This year mainly companies from the automotive, engineering and IT industries experienced problems with finding employees. All three industries had to deal with the lack of qualified workforce. Available data suggest however that in 2016 we can expect an even higher shortage of university graduates with technology and engineering degrees, as well as the non-qualified workforce, due to the continuing decrease in unemployment,” said Jon Hill, Director of Grafton Recruitment, and added: “Thousands of vacant positions are waiting to be filled in technology sectors, whereas technical universities yearly produce only 18 000 graduates. Students should therefore think about their possible career steps already when they apply for university.”

A change in attitude is a must

The situation on the labor market suggests that companies should prepare for a complete revision of their attitude towards the recruitment process as well as the current working conditions they offer, as only the most flexible ones will be able to successfully attract a quality workforce. In some sectors and in IT especially, typical job advertising is no longer sufficient and the need for approaching so-called passive candidates, in other words those who are not actively seeking a new job, is becoming ever so important. Modern technologies used to search for suitable candidates have now come into play. “When you finally find someone, you need to impress them. Active and resolute communication isn’t enough, you need to offer more than just average conditions,” Jon Hill goes on to explain the current situation on the market, where companies from several sectors have already begun revising both monetary and non-monetary benefits, with the biggest progress being made in the segment of shared business services.

The MOST, the BEST, and the LEAST of the year 2015

The most in-demand professions in 2015 were IT Developers, Design Engineers and Production Workers. Grafton Recruitment has recorded a 30% increase in demand for these positions compared to the demand in three previous years and expects it will grow further by another 5-10% in 2016. Lack of quality workforce is also apparent in shared business services, where language skills at a high level are a necessity. For comparison: the hardest professions to find suitable candidates for were Software Developers, followed by Metalworkers and for instance CNC Operators or Welders.

The best paying professions Grafton Recruitment filled this year were IT Development Director (180 000 CZK), Director of Shared Business Services Centre and Manufacturing Director. The highest paying position recruited for last year was a Financial Director with a salary of 130 000 CZK.

The least common profession Grafton Recruitment had to find candidates for last year was a Banana quality inspector, whose duties are to rate the quality and taste of imported bananas.