The number of job advertisements on the MojPosao job-seeking platforms dropped by 26% last year, and labour market recovery can be expected in the second quarter of this year at the earliest, MojPosao said on Monday.

“… following a marked drop in labour demand during the spring lockdowing and partial recovery of the market in the summer, the number of vacancies advertised has been stagnating in recent months,” the press release said.

Last year, over 53,000 job advertisements were published on the MojPosao platforms, MojPosao website and the PosLovac mobile application, which is a 26% drop compared to 2019.

On the other hand, 1.1 million job application were sent in, which is 6% more than in 2019.

“There was a sharp drop in demand for employees in mid-March, when the lockdown was first announced and then introduced in Croatia,” MojPosao director Igor Žonja recalled.

The number of job advertisements started to increase in the second half of April, following the relaxation of restrictive coronavirus measures and thanks to the government’s job-retention measures, Žonja said.

The summer tourist season helped the job market to experience growth by mid-October, Žonja recalled.

“Unforturnatly, the second wave of the pandemic led to a drop in labour demand. The current number of job advertisements is still lower than before the epidemic,” he said.

Waiters, salesmen, warehouse workers most sought-after

An analysis of the MojPosao website has shown that jobs in tourism, hospitality and sales were most in-demand, just like in previous years.

The most sought-after jobs in 2020 were waiter (barman), shop assistant (salesman), warehouse worker, programmer, cook, primary school teacher and production worker.

The largest number of job advertisments were in retail (sales), 16%, followed by production and crafts (14%), and tourism and hospitality (13%).

The highest demand (number of profiles) was also in retail (sales), 21%, followed by administrative jobs (17%), and tourism and hospitality (14%).

The largest drop in the number of job advertisements was in the category of human resources (-53%), followed by beauty care jobs (-47%), and tourism and hospitality (-46%).

At the same time, the number of job advertisements grew in the category of construction, geodesy and geology (+17%), health and social welfare (+14%), and education and science (+6%), which was according to the MojPosao website “expected given the public health situation and the earthquake that struck Zagreb and its environs and then the area of Sisak-Moslavina County”.

“All in all, 2021 is going to be a year of growth, in economy and in the job market, but from the second quarter at the earliest,” Žonja said.