Grafton Recruitment CEE Salary Guide 2015: Central and East European Job Market Showing Signs of Recovery

12 November 2015

Dublin, Ireland:  Grafton Recruitment, a specialized staffing brand, presented today the findings of its CEE Salary Guide 2015 report for markets in Central and Eastern Europe (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia).  The document, which compares salary figures in key industry segments (IT and Telecommunications; Manufacturing and Engineering; Construction and Real Estate; Banking and Financial Services; Sales, Retail and Marketing; HR, Administration and Law; and Business Support Services), reports positive signs of hiring trends and salary trends across Central and Eastern Europe.  Key segments that are reporting positive development in employee remuneration in all four countries surveyed include IT and Telecommunications, Manufacturing and Engineering and Business Support Services.

The key driver of job growth in the region is continued expansion of business support centers on all CEE markets.  This applies specifically to the Czech and Polish markets, where there is strong growth in demand for IT experts with skills in system support, networking, virtualization and database administration.  Likewise, all countries surveyed reported growth in recruitment of candidates with excellent foreign language skills for back office set-ups and shared services.  Business demand for staffing shared service centers is also driving hires in the banking and financial services segment in CEE, where countries like Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland are seeking independent accountants, while Slovak businesses active in asset management and capital markets trading are recruiting more heavily.

Strong need for technical engineers and experts with project management skills has boosted hiring in the industrial manufacturing segment; specifically the automotive business.  Additionally, a lack of qualified experts has improved the job market for new university graduates in this segment.  Although they may not have work experience, companies are hungry for graduates with knowledge in the fields of manufacturing, technologies, quality control and logistics. The rising volume of new project contracts for manufacturing companies has supported hiring of specialists with only secondary school education; particularly if they have strong language skills.

“The strong year we’ve had confirms what the CEE Salary Guide findings are telling us.  Our specialized consultants screened last year over 62,000 candidates in CEE. We placed over 5,000 people in permanent contracts and over 14,000 people in temporary contracts. The results of this Guide are based on our deep knowledge and presence in Central and Eastern Europe” explains Thibault Lefebvre, CEO of Grafton Employment Group. 

Business segments that have reported generally slower salary growth and interest in recruitment across the region, according to the new edition of the CEE Salary Guide, include Construction and Human Resources and Administration.

Further information on job market and salary development for individual countries can be found in the summaries below:

Czech Republic

Recruitment in the Czech Republic is being led in part by strong growth in the construction segment; namely investment into transport infrastructure projects.  Hiring is strong in the Czech Republic for jobs at shared business service centers; here candidates need to have strong language skills in Dutch, German and Nordic languages.  Build out of IT support centers is driving hires in the IT and telecommunications segment, while online marketing specialist positions and marketing manager posts are the most sought after jobs in the sales and marketing segment.  In this segment Czech companies are also looking for brand development managers for FMCG and product managers in the field of electronics sales.  In the industrial manufacturing and engineering segment, Czech businesses need logistics experts and planners, while accountants are in demand in banking and finance.  Recruitment of HR experts for all sorts of roles (recruiters, generalists and managerial posts) is also strong.  Overall salaries increased by 2% in the Czech Republic last year: this is the fastest growth rate since 2009.

Hungary

Hungarian job seekers face perhaps the toughest market in the region.  Again shared service centers are boosting new hires in this country, with candidates with language skills in Bulgarian and Estonian in high demand. Unfortunately, businesses putting investment plans on hold has slowed growth in the construction segment and cut demand for marketing experts in Hungary.  However, our survey results suggest there is a growing demand for sales representatives in the construction segment, as well as the agricultural industry. Businesses in the industrial manufacturing and engineering segment in Hungary are looking for electrical engineers with good English and German language skills. Other growth areas include independent accountants in banking and finance and HR experts, who can take on roles as recruiters, generalists and HR managers.

Poland

The Polish job market also has strong demand for positions in shared business services.  Candidates with language skills in Chinese, French, Italian and Spanish are highly sought after in this segment.  Polish job seekers will also find many opportunities in the IT and telecommunications segment (specifically in HR), thanks to the build out of local support centers. Meanwhile, demand is also strong for skilled online marketing specialists. Other stand-out areas for recruitment include sales representatives for the retail sector and independent accountants in the banking and financial services sector.

Slovakia

Stronger growth segments for Slovakia include construction (driven by projects for the build out of new residential and business complexes) and automobile manufacturing.   The country also, like all countries in the region, posted strong recruitment for jobs in shared service centers; particularly for HR managers.  Candidates looking for positions in these centers need strong language skills in German, Polish and Romanian.  There is also increased demand for sales representatives with skills in selling technical products. Candidates in this field often need to have more than three years of sales experience. Growth in asset management services and capital markets trading is driving demand for hiring in the Slovak banking and financial services segment.

About the Salary Guide Methodology:  The Grafton Recruitment CEE Salary Guide is based on in-depth interviews with industry experts, Grafton clients, candidates interviews with our specialized industry Grafton Recruitment consultants on all markets evaluated in the report document (i.e. the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia).