Bottleneck Vacancies in Slovakia

Transcription

1 Bottleneck Vacancies in Slovakia Motor vehicle manufacturing industry driving skill demand Slovakia has the highest per capita car production in the world and 26% of GDP is created by the manufacturing sector, which employs nearly 24% of the workforce in the country. The employees of the motor vehicles sector represent half of this figure. As this sector has seen recent rapid growth, most of the hard-to-fill vacancies are registered within it, including occupations such as mechanical engineers and product graders and testers. Slovakia 2013 Population: 5.4m Workforce: 2.3m Unemployment: 14.6% Other higher-skilled bottleneck occupations identified include commercial sales representatives, accountants and primary school teachers. The unemployment rate in Slovakia is increasing (10% in 2008, 14% in 2010) and at the end of 2012 there was 29 unemployed for one vacancy. Despite that some difficulties with recruitment/bottleneck vacancies were reported by 17% of employers in 2012 (10% in 2013). Underlying reasons vary for bottlenecks The primary reason for bottleneck vacancies is lack of suitable qualified candidates. The main problem is that educational curriculums and vocational training do not match the qualifications required by employers. Bottleneck vacancies mainly appear within technical high-skilled occupations where the number of graduates cannot cover current demand and/or available candidates do not fulfil the technical requirements for the position. The gap between the demand of the market and the supply of the education system (both university and secondary schools) is significant. The interest of students in professions experiencing bottlenecks is very low. TOP Bottleneck Vacancies in Slovakia 2013 Occupation (ISCO-08) Commercial sales representatives Civil engineers Mechanical engineers Accountants Cooks Primary school teachers Environmental and occupational health inspectors and associates Development since 2008 In addition, scarce labour resources are being reduced as people are leaving to work abroad (both EU and non-eu countries) namely because of higher salaries and better working conditions. Mitigation strategies are being implemented mainly at the level of employers So far, no special national-level mitigation strategies have been implemented. As the reasons of bottleneck vacancies are known, the bigger employers cooperate directly with the schools. They enable students to gain direct practical experience or provide suitable equipment for the training at schools. Assessment of available evidence Scarce. See page 5 for more information. Heavy truck and lorry drivers Trade brokers Product graders and testers Metal working machine tool setters and operators Welders and flame cutters Waiters Page 1

2 Top 20 Bottleneck Vacancies The bottleneck vacancies have been identified using several sources: 1) a survey conducted by Manpower a recruitment agency (2012, 2013). 2) a quarterly survey mapping bottleneck vacancies for skilled trades and other (e.g. bricklayers/plumbers), initiated in 2009 and funded by the European Social Fund. A national project funded by the European Social Fund entitled Monitoring system of created and abolished jobs introduced a quarterly survey in The survey is focused on individual employers (i.e. physical persons entrepreneurs) and uses an indicator of bottleneck vacancy which combines the number of vacancies and the time needed to fill them. Due to the focus on individual employers, the list (from second quarter 2013) includes mainly lower skilled occupations such as waiters, cooks, drivers, plumbers, shop assistants, stall and market salespersons, electrical and electronic equipment assemblers, and bricklayers. Although bottleneck vacancies are dealt with at the national level, regional aspects in Slovakia result being quite important. This is due to substantial regional disparities (e.g. current unemployment rate in Bratislava region 6%, in Presov region 18%) and concentration of mechanical engineering industry or agriculture in some of the regions. Taking data limitations into account, we can conclude that bottleneck vacancies in Slovakia mostly affect highskilled occupations. Growth sectors register a trend in labour shortages similar to the one recorded in other countries, where bottleneck vacancies are increasing. In Slovakia, more specifically, the shortage of ICT and human health specialists will most likely be increasing in the next future. An official ranking of bottleneck vacancies in Slovakia does not exist. Most surveys, when referring to hard to fill vacancies, actually states overall number of reported vacancies. The Manpower ranking in 2013 (first 10 occupations) is based on a combination of several criteria: unfilled vacancy duration (6 months), availability of qualified specialists and job terms and conditions (see page 5 for more detail). Rank Bottleneck Vacancies ISCO-08 Skills level (ISCO-08) Geographical aspects 1 Commercial sales representatives HS National 2 Civil engineers HS National 3 Mechanical engineers HS National 4 Accountants HS National 5 Cooks SNM National 6 Primary school teachers HS National 7 Environmental and occupational health inspectors and associates HS National 8 Heavy truck and lorry drivers SM National 9 Trade brokers HS National 10 Product graders and testers SM National 11 Metal working machine tool setters and operators SM National 12 Welders and flame cutters SM National 13 Waiters SNM National Elem:Elementary, SNM: Skilled non manual, SM: Skilled manual, HS= High skilled Page 2

3 Sectors with Bottleneck Vacancies Sectors Manufacturing Bottleneck vacancies Mechanical engineers Product graders and testers Metal working machines tools setters and operators Welders and flame cutters Manufacturing (mainly of motor vehicles and related productions) represents a significant part of local economy. Foreign investors established their factories a few years ago as the country could offer a relatively cheap and educated workforce. However, in the meantime the progress and innovation introduced new technologies and require new skills and knowledge, while the education system has been unable to react quickly. Bottleneck problems in manufacturing The Slovak economy is very much dependent on manufacturing (mainly motor vehicles and their parts and accessories, but recently also electronics manufacturing). The majority of bottleneck vacancies are registered for occupations belonging to this sector. Due to strong foreign investment this sector has been growing fast and together with the new factories, new technologies were introduced. However, this development was not sufficiently reflected in the education provision and thus certain professions suffer from the lack of available specialists. Most of these occupations are still perceived as dirty and physically demanding, therefore the interest of students remains low. The measures to change the situation are being discussed but so far only small local activities initiated by employers and schools were implemented. Main reasons for Bottleneck Vacancies Low number of qualified candidates The most frequently mentioned reason for bottleneck vacancies in Slovakia is the lack of qualified people due to the mismatch between labour market demand and labour force supplied by the education institutions. The parents deciding about future of their children when finishing elementary schools have very limited knowledge about market demands. Low interest in vocational training and technical studies Vocational education is often seen as unattractive as there is the perception that the future job will be dirty and physically demanding, and therefore interest in this type of training is low. Moreover, curriculums and training rooms are outdated and no practical training is provided. A similar situation can be observed at the university level where technical studies are considered difficult and non-attractive. Benefits Trap There are instances where the social benefits for unemployed are higher than a (minimum) salary. This discourages unemployed people to take jobs and distorts their choices. Emigration of skilled labour The main reason for bottlenecks is a lack of qualified workforce followed by lack of hard skills and soft skills. The scarce resources are being reduced as people are leaving to work abroad (both EU and non-eu countries) namely because of higher salaries and better working conditions. Page 3

4 Initiatives to cope with Bottleneck Vacancies As the bottleneck vacancies have not been subject of any regular monitoring, no strategies were developed to resolve this issue at the national or regional level. Nevertheless, employers facing the problem had to find a way to deal with it. According to the Manpower survey, where possible, additional training is most often applied (36% of the employers), as alternative options, benefits and/or salaries are increased (20% and/or 15%) or staff from other regions is hired (11%). Recruitment Wages Mobility within the country was supported through a measure providing some financial compensation when moving. Despite this legal provision, it is hardly used. The provided contribution cannot cover real expenses namely for those moving from poor regions with limited working opportunities to Bratislava. Benefits and salary increases are used as a employers mitigation strategy to make positions which are hard to fill more attractive. Large companies provide their own bus transport for employees from more distant places. Recently a lot of women from poor regions have moved to work abroad to work in the care sector, mainly in the field of elderly care. Training Additional training (both formal and informal) is one of the main strategies used as to mitigate bottleneck vacancies. Some of the employers closely cooperate with schools and provide equipment for training rooms or opportunity for students to gain practical experience in the factory. Page 4

5 Main sources used to identify Bottleneck Vacancies in Slovakia Bottleneck vacancies have been identified using several sources: A survey conducted by Manpower a personal agency (2013). A quarterly survey mapping bottleneck vacancies (for individual employers) initiated in 2009, funded by the European Social Fund and implemented by the Central Office of Labour. For the purposes of the ranking the dataset used refers to The 1 10 ranking is based on the results of the survey conducted by the Manpower in Ranking is based on the results of interviews and of the traders survey. As no systematic monitoring tools exist in the country to follow, which of the vacancies can be considered bottleneck vacancies, the report is based on qualitative data provided during the interviews with several institution s representatives. E.g. state bodies for employment/labour market. Furthermore, explanations and reasons have been complemented by desk research of relevant web pages and newspaper articles, dealing with shortages in specific occupations and sectors. Overall, data quality is assessed to be scarce. The ranking used in the Manpower 2013 survey (used to rank the first 10 occupations) is based on combination of several criteria: duration of unfilled vacancy (6 months), availability of qualified specialists and other benefits/remuneration (including provision of accommodation, reimbursment of expenditures for moving, increased or additional salaries). The survey is carried out annually with some respondents and covers all sectors, types and size of companies. The last employer survey issued by the Research Institute for Labour, Social Affairs and Family, partly dealing with the issue of vacancies was conducted in April The sample included 260 companies and findings were summarised at the level of country, regions and classes of occupations. No specific details on individual bottleneck occupations were mentioned in it but a summary of reasons for bottleneck vacancies and mitigation strategies of employers was provided. With the exception of the indicated sources, systematic data on bottleneck vacancies does not exist. Data indicating hard to fill vacancies in sufficient details (4 digits ISCO Code) and covering all sectors and types of companies are not available. Sources Manpower, Survey results of Manpower 2013, Survey results of ESF project Four interviews conducted with key stakeholders and experts. Page 5