Flash EB No 196 – Observatory of European SMEs
The Gallup Organization
mentioned it. Finally, some managers indicate that their key recruitment problem is somehow “their own fault”, related either to the unattractive nature of their business (3%) or to the unpleasant working conditions they are able to offer (2%). As the graph below indicates, in all but one European economy, the scarcity of labour is a more significant problem than high wage levels (the exception is Hungary). However, there is a relatively wide range of opinions across the EU regarding this issue. The lack of appropriate labour is most striking in some of the new Member States. 56% of SMEs consider this their primary recruitment problem in Lithuania, 53% in Estonia, and 48% in Romania. In Hungary (15%), on the other hand, this problem seems less significant, and is outscored by the problem of high wage demands by candidates. SMEs in Belgium (22%) and the Netherlands (22%) are also among the least likely to face a shortage of appropriate labour. Main recruiting problem (the two most frequently mentioned difficulties) 100
scarcity of labour (skilled + unskilled)
75 56
53
50
25
15
wage levels
49 48 46 46 46 46 45 43 42 42 41 40
11
13
10
7
6
12 13 5
6
8
5
8
36 35 35 34 34 33 33 32 32 32 31 30 30 29 29 29 29 9
7
7
11 12
6
12 5
11
11
11
8
12 10
16
26
22 22
14 3
6
5
9
10
22 15
LT EE FI RO MT NO LV TR IE EL PL SK SI AT IS ES NMS12 NMS10 FR UK PT EU27 EU25 EU15 LU CZ SE DE IT BG DK CY NL BE HU
0
Q63. What is your main recruiting problem? Base: SMEs, % by country, question was not asked from 1-person firms
The other obstacle on the labour market mentioned relatively frequently is high wage levels that complicate the hiring of the desired personnel. This concern was indicated most frequently, as mentioned earlier, in Hungary (22%), Germany (16%), Lithuania (15%), Ireland (13%) and Turkey (12%). On the other hand, excessive wage demands are rarely a concern in Bulgaria (3%), Portugal, Cyprus, Latvia and Slovakia (all 5%). The low image of the job or sector is a constraint mentioned rarely in most European economies. Still, at least five percent of SMEs claimed that this was their primary recruiting problem in Ireland (10%), Turkey (8%), Sweden (7%), Malta (6%), Cyprus (5%), Finland (5%), Austria (5%) and Norway (5%). Unpleasant working conditions affect the hiring abilities of only a few SMEs significantly. At least five percent of SMEs considered this their main concern in – again – Turkey (8%), Belgium (5%), Estonia (5%), Slovenia (5%) and Luxembourg (5%). Annex Table 58a has further details on the results in various countries. Looking at the different SME segments, the (lack of) availability of the necessary labour force is the prime concern everywhere. This is especially the case in the small and medium enterprise segment, and particularly with regard to skilled labour (40% and 43% in these two categories, respectively, named the scarcity of skilled labour as their most pressing recruiting problem). 35% of SMEs in the manufacturing industry and 39% of firms in construction suffer the most from the lack of a skilled workforce. Those in the financial (19%), healthcare (20%) and personal services sector (21%) report this problem the least often. For the smallest SMEs, wage levels seem to be the most important problem. 11% of micro enterprises declared that this was their most challenging recruiting issue, versus 7% of large scaled enterprises.
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