Companies in Bulgaria are planning to increase their employees by ten percent in the last three months of 2018, according to a survey by ManpowerGroup, which surveyed 620 employers. Thus, the intentions did not change compared to the previous quarter, but there was a decrease of three percentage points compared to the same period last year, according to the data. In all ten industrial sectors, employment rates are projected to increase, with the industry's leader being Manufacturing 18%, followed by Agriculture, Hunting, Forestry and Fishing, and Wholesale and Retail with forecasts of 14% and 12%. Employers in the construction sector share the weakest hiring intentions with a 2% forecast. Compared to the previous quarter, the highest growth in intentions to increase employees was recorded in Mining (11%) and Electricity, Gas and Water (5%). At the same time, employers in the public and social sectors share weaker hiring plans with a 2 percentage point reduction.

"Bulgarian employers share positive intentions for recruitment throughout the year, which is an indication of their confidence in the stability of the economic environment and the labor market in the country," said Alexander Hangimana, Managing Director, ManpowerGroup Balkans. "However, employers continue to have tremendous difficulties finding the talent they need, and while some have started to offer more flexible forms of employment to fill their vacancies, they need to be more inclusive in terms of inadequately used talent sources such as pensioners and people with disabilities, as well as focusing on more training to create and grow talents within their organizations, "he said. According to the latest data of the National Statistical Institute, unemployment is 5.5% and the employment rate is 72.6%.

Which cities in Bulgaria will have the biggest growth?

The strongest growth in the labor market is expected in Varna with a net employment forecast of 17% - an increase of three percentage points compared to the previous quarter and on an annual basis. Significant employment growth is also expected in Rousse, where the forecast is 13% while employers in Burgas share cautious optimism about their hiring plans with a 10% forecast. At the same time employers in Plovdiv and Sofia share modest employment prospects with 8% and 7% respectively.

Source: Money.bg