August 20, 2020 – Online platform Adorio.hr analyzed job advertisements in the first seven months and the impact of the pandemic on the labor market in Croatia.
As Poslovni.hr writes on the 20th of August, demand for workers in Croatia in the first seven months is 39 percent lower in comparison to the last year.
This is shown by the labor market analysis of Adorio.hr, the youngest Croatian online employment platform. Job ads analyzed are from their platform, but also from other Croatian online job platforms, and the Croatian Employment Service, as well as from the websites of companies.
Absence of seasonal employment
With the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown, the demand has practically stalled in March, and in mid-April, 81 percent fewer job vacancies were advertised. The demand has slowly begun to recover in May and more strongly in June, but this positive trend already stopped in July. Data from Adorio.hr show that the number of new ads in July was 22 percent lower than in the same month last year.
Lower demand in July is primarily due to the absence of higher seasonal employment, according to Adorio.hr. Compared to last year, as many as 70 percent fewer ads for seasonal jobs were published.
Tourism showing the largest decline in demand
In June, the demand for workers in a trade, administration, construction, medicine, and education increased significantly, but then fell sharply in July, and in total, compared to last year, these industries decreased by 34 percent.
In the construction sector, where jobs did not stand still in the days of lockdown, there was also a drop in demand in July. However, compared to last year’s figures, there is even greater demand for construction workers.
Source. Pixabay.com
During the beginning of the pandemic, the highest unemployment came from the tourism sector, but at the end of May, demand picked up, and in June, these jobs were the most sought after. In July, however, jobs in tourism and catering experienced the largest decline in demand compared to all other jobs. Compared to the same time last year, job advertisements in these industries have been halved, and this negative trend continues in August.
Improving demands for some sectors
According to official statistics, in July, unemployment rose by 0.5 percent monthly and by as much as 32 percent on an annual basis. Adorio.hr also points out that according to the data of the Croatian Employment Service, unemployment in almost all activities decreased in July compared to the previous month, except in education, social welfare, and construction. In the case of education, this is the usual short-term termination of the employment contract during the school holidays.
On a monthly and annual basis, the level of demand for workers is improving in the IT sector, mechanical engineering, marketing, finance, manufacturing, and agriculture.
Source. Pixabay.com
“Given that economic activity and labor demand in Croatia and among our largest trading partners in the EU are gradually improving, we expect the unemployment rate to remain short-term (3-6 months) at the pre-season level between 9.0 and 9, 5 percent. At the moment, we do not see any indications of a large number of layoffs, but we believe that the current demand for labor is sufficient only to maintain the current unemployment rate, but not for a significant reduction,” said the analysis of Adorio.hr, noting that it’s not possible to give long-term estimates for the labor market.
They will be mostly determined by new research on the long-term effects of coronavirus on health, compliance with epidemiological measures, labor mobility, and state measures to help the economy.
