June 12 (SeeNews) - Slovenian employers reported cautiously optimistic hiring intentions for the third quarter of 2018, representing the country's weakest forecast in two years, recruitment company ManpowerGroup said on Tuesday.
Once the data is adjusted to allow for seasonal variations, the net employment outlook stands at +9%, down by 3 percentage points both quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year, ManpowerGroup said in its latest Employment Outlook Survey.
According to the survey, 11% of employers in Slovenia anticipate an increase in staffing levels, 2% forecast a decrease and 85% expect no change.
"Employers report more modest hiring intentions over the next three months. However, when looking closely at the results we might see a slight uncertainty affecting the employers hiring confidence," said Nebojsa Biskup, country manager Manpower Slovenia.
"It seems that the gap between employees’ requests and employers’ high requirements is starting to manifest through cautious hiring pace in the country", Biskup noted.
Looking at the industry-specific data, employers in all 10 industry sectors expect to increase staffing levels during the third quarter of 2018. However, when compared with this time one year ago, hiring plans decline in seven of the 10 industry sectors.
Quarter-over-quarter, hiring prospects weaken in five of the 10 industry sectors, according to the survey.
The strongest labor market is anticipated in the transport, storage and communications sector, where the net employment outlook stands at +14%, followed by the manufacturing sector with an outlook of +11%, and the construction sector and the finance, insurance, real estate and business services sector with outlooks of +10%, each.
Looking at region-specific data, the strongest labour market is anticipated in Central Slovenia, where the net employment outlook stands at +15%.
Biskup explained that Slovenian employers will soon have to redefine their human resources policies by acknowledging the new era of increasingly extensive automation of business processes and digitalisation, where capable and skillful employees will define their future.
Manpower interviewed nearly 60,000 employers across 44 countries and territories to forecast labour market activity for the July-September quarter of 2018.