The FINANCIAL — With 36% of total job vacancies published on online job search websites, the trade sector appears to be the leading employer nowadays. Considering the seasonal effect of the summer holiday the number of currently available vacancies is not being underestimated. Meanwhile the situation on the job market is not expected to radically change in the autumn due to the approaching presidential elections. There are over 1,000 jobs advertised on each online job search website.
Lili Bibilashvili, PhD, President at HR Professional Guild, has analyzed the current job trends published on job announcement and career websites.
“It is not unusual for hiring processes to stall somewhat during the summer, especially in August. Accordingly, I would not say that the number of job vacancies has fallen at all significantly,” said Bibilashvili.
“The majority of vacancies are posted by companies from the trade sector. Their share is 36% out of the total number of jobs. Professional skilled workers (electrician, engine handyman, air conditioning repairer etc) are the second most-demanded professions. However, they are making up just one or maximum three-four open calls. We shouldn’t think that such professions are not in even more demand. The reason is that the vacancies of such occupations are rarely advertised via the internet. So, this figure may not be accurate,” she added.
The financial-accounting sphere is in third place with 8%. IT specialists take a slightly lower share – 7%. The banking direction makes up 6%, HoReCa and tourism sector – 6%. The engineering and agricultural sector accounts for the lowest number of open vacancies – 0.4%.
On analyzing this data Bibilashvili concluded that trade is the country’s most “developed” direction. The most problematic spheres are those of construction and agriculture.
“Interestingly, demand has increased for lawyers (4%). In my view, this must be connected to the recent changes in the labour code,” said Bibilashvili.
The most demanded professions are salesperson/consultants and all of the rest of the positions that are connected with trade.
Bibilashvili found it difficult to discuss the current trends towards wages as the majority of companies do not reveal that when posting vacancies online. “Based on private conversations I can tell you that significant changes have not been observed. However, some of the companies are reducing wage rates. In my view, this is also caused by the labour code changes. In particular, the obligations connected to working hours and additional payment,” she told The FINANCIAL.
“There is a tendency of increasing staff members in companies where working hours exceed 48 hours per week. In this case employers are forced to hire more workers. However, this may cause a reduction of the salaries of existing employees. Companies will find it difficult to meet the expenditures that have been caused by the recently-changed labour code,” said Bibilashvili.
According to the Georgian National Statistics Center, the rate of unemployment in Georgia varies from 15-16%.
The highest recorded average wage is in the financial sector – GEL 1,365.3; transport and communication – GEL 1, 148; in the electricity, gas and water production sector – GEL 935.1.
The lowest monthly wage is in fish-breeding, HoReCa, science and agriculture, hunting and forest manufacturing. The average monthly salary in the fish-breeding sector is GEL 271.1; in HoReCa – GEL 347.8; in science – GEL 376.3; in agriculture, hunting and forest manufacturing – GEL 400.3.
The minimum wage in Georgia equals GEL 150, less than USD 100, according to GeoStat.
Bibilashvili does not think that that labour code changes were negative. However, she does think that businesses were not ready for it, either psychologically or financially. “Furthermore, as I was informed, businesses faced a 20-40% reduction of income,” she added.
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