Labor market: Staff shortages, vacancies and high unemployment simultaneously

The lack of personnel in general or, in particular, the lack of suitable staff, is developing into a dominant issue in the labor market, demonstrating the difficulty faced by companies in the search and staffing of existing jobs, while also recording the distortion of the market.

This is how the following “distorted image” is recorded. On the one hand, unemployment reached 11.6% in October, and on the other hand, the Hellenic Statistical Service recorded an explosive increase in job vacancies.

The Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT) announced the quarterly Press Release aiming at presenting data on job vacancies for the whole economy excluding Primary Sector and Activities of Households, referring to the 3rd quarter 2022.

The number of job vacancies in the 3rd quarter 2022 recorded an increase of 60.8% in comparison with the 3rd quarter 2021 (24,324 and 15,125 respectively), while the corresponding number of job vacancies in the 3rd quarter 2021 had recorded an increase of 56.2% in comparison with the 3rd quarter 2020.

According to recent research, the problem plagues at least five productive sectors of the economy – except for tourism -, whose entrepreneurs are looking – in vain – for workers to cover their needs.

Characteristic is the research finding according to which eight out of ten employers, i.e. 78%, find it difficult to find the right staff, due to the lack of workers with the necessary skills. And this despite the fact that unemployment remains at high levels, around 12%.

The problem is present and dominant in the productive sectors of manufacturing, tourism, construction, business services, technology – communication, health and social care activities.