Optimism in the Labor Trends for the 1st half of 2013

According to the Recruitment Confidence Index (RCI) which is conducted every 6 months by the Applied Research & Innovation Department of ALBA Graduate Business School at American College of Greece, there will be stagnancy in the recruiting activities in the Greek labor market for the next 6 months, however there is a great increase to the index compared to previous 6 months. The Index is appeared to be less than 100 (currently 90.9) and it is of the same levels of 2009.

The main objective of the survey is to explore the perceptions and trends of companies regarding their recruitment processes and methodologies over the next 6 months. The 1^st round (1^st  half) of 2013 was conducted in December 2012 – January 2013 with the support of Peoplecert Group and Kariera.gr More than 2,500 invitations were sent to HR departments, Recruitment and Selection Managers, CEOs, etc. of companies in Greece.

The main findings of the survey can be summarized as follows:

1. 26.3% of the companies are expected to reduce the number of their employees the next 6 months, while 47.1% of the respondents have already decreased their workforce the last 6 months. However, 21.5% will proceed with recruiting new employees
2. 58.1% of the companies have been affected either a lot or dramatically by the current financial crisis, while only 1.1% state that they have not been affected at all.
3. Although the financial crisis has affected most of the companies, companies feel optimistic for their future (65.3%)
4. 33.6% will reduce employees' executive training.  
5. The two industry sectors that are expected to increase their recruiting activities (more than 40%) are tourism and services sector. Education, Media, and Logistics sectors will show almost zero activities for recruiting the next 6 months.
6. The tendency towards recruiting young employees and alumni is higher than the rest (53.1%).
7. Companies that will employee new personnel will mostly search for Sales, customer service employees, marketing and Accounting/Finance executives.
8. 55.1% of the companies prefer personal interviews as the main employee selection tool, while 21% of the companies employ other tools as well, such as psychometric tests and skill test (PC, language tests). Job Searching Websites is still the most popular method of finding new employees
9. 48.7% of the companies consider a postgraduate degree as a crucial prerequisite for the selection of new personnel. 
10. The majority of the companies believe that it is important to have a certificate of PC knowledge, English or other professional skills, while the 40% of the respondents stated that they publish job ads for secretaries, IT and accounting employees, where they specifically ask for PC knowledge certificate.
11. 74% of the companies believe that financial crisis has damaged their Employer Brand. However, only 12.7% of the companies is willing to invest in developing their Employer brand

The collection of data for the 2^nd half of 2013 will take place during May-June 2013. You may download the complete report with the results of the survey, as well as the analysis concerning the repercussions of the financial crisis (special theme) and Employer Branding here

For more information on the survey please contact Ms. Zoe Kourounakou, e-mail: [email protected], tel.: 210 8964531.