Optimism in the labour market for the 2nd semester of 2007

The results of the second round of the RCI survey have just been announced. The survey is conducted every six months and its main objective is to explore the perceptions and the trends of the companies regarding their recruitment processes and methodologies for the next semester.

The main conclusions from the second round (covering the period until December 2007) are the following:

-  Companies at their majority are expected to increase their activities of attracting and recruiting new personnel, with the exception of very small companies (less than 25 employees), which appear to be less optimistic on employing new personnel the next six months.
- More than half of the companies of the sample are expected to increase the number of their employees during the next six months (approx. 55%).
- The majority of participating companies expect that salaries will be increased more or less equal to the collective employment agreements (up to 6%). Yet, a respectable percentage of the participants (30,5%), expect salaries to be increased by more than 6%.
- The percentage of the companies that are expected to select young graduates / junior level employees, as well as specialised personnel is very high (more than 65% and 40% respectively).
-  Companies are expected to look for new personnel mostly in the fields of Sales, Accounting, Finance and Marketing.
-  Companies at their majority appear optimistic for their future (72% of the sample).
-  The methods/tools most commonly used by the companies during the process of attracting and selecting new personnel appear to be the curriculum vitae database inside the companies and the internal search methods. There is also a good percentage of companies though, that prefer the methods of job searching websites and newspaper ads.
-  Recruitment Managers require candidates with certified advanced knowledge of IT, except for the cases they are looking for professionals such as receptionists, warehouse workers and store salesmen, where basic knowledge is adequate.
-  Companies consider that the increase in productivity depends mainly on the team management competencies, as well as the organizational and time management skills of their employees.

The 2nd round of the Survey was conducted during June-July 2007, with the support of ECDL Hellas. More than 1600 invitations were sent to companies based in Greece. In total, 161 companies, 68% Greek and 32% multinational, completed the online questionnaire. 9% of the respondents are companies from the telecommunication and transportation sector, 29% are manufacturing companies, 22% provide services, while 17% of the companies are commercial. Concisely, 94% of the companies were private, with the vast majority based in Attica. Concerning the size of the companies that participated in the survey, 24% were large companies (200-499 employees), followed by a 20% of companies with more than 1000 employees, and an 18% of companies with a number of personnel between 25 to 99.

The results of the 2nd semester were quite similar to the 1st semester of 2007, with the exception of very small companies (less than 25 employees), which show a moderate optimism for the recruitment of new personnel. The general signs of the labour market remain consistent among all companies, from all industries and do not show great changes from January until the end of this year. However, there appears to be a slight decrease in the strong optimism of the 1st semester. Still, this decrease has not influenced the general index, which remains in high levels.

The collection of data for the 1st round of 2008 (1st semester) will take place during December 2007. You may download the complete report with the results of the survey here.

For more information on the survey please contact Mr. Panagiotis Tarsinos, e-mail: [email protected], tel.:  210 8964531.