The European labor market is recovering – or at least showing signs of recovery – after the upheavals associated with the pandemic. However, it continues to be far from the needs of the population, reports Euronews, as quoted by Rador Radio Romania.

Data on the labor market in Europe for the second quarter of the current year indicate a slight decrease in vacancies (from 2.8 to 2.7%).

In the same period, the employment rate of people aged 20 to 64 was 75.4%, slightly increasing by 0.1 percentage point.

Positive data, but not enough to change the broader trend: the share of long-term vacancies in the EU continued to rise every year, but failed to keep up with supply and demand.

The momentum hasn’t stopped since 2020, when many people were laid off to cut costs due to the pandemic. Despite an increase in employment in the second quarter, a European Commission report published in July explained that there is a shortage of labor and skills.

This is because the creation of new jobs is not enough to fill the gaps created by the retirement of workers.

According to the document, these gaps are very likely to increase further with the expected decline in the working-age population, which will reach 258 million in 2030 from 265 million in 2022.

Which country has the most vacancies?

Among the EU member states for which Eurostat has data, the Netherlands has the highest vacancy rate (4.7%), while the lowest percentage was recorded in Bulgaria and Romania: 0.8% in the same quarter.

Among the vacancies posted on the network during the same period, software developers and sales consultants were the most in demand. The advertising, marketing and manufacturing sectors also recorded significant job openings, as did engineering, research and development.

Is Europe’s labor shortage causing job cuts?

Compared to the vacancy figures for the second quarter of 2021 and 2022, this year’s figure is in the middle between them.

The average rate was 2.2% in the second quarter of 2021, just after the main markets opened. It reached 3% in the second quarter of 2022 and has been declining ever since.

National statistics testify to the continent’s difficulties, which are often attributed to a lack of skilled labor.

According to Eurostat, more than 75% of companies in the EU face difficulties in finding specialists with the necessary skills for certain positions, which actually hinders economic growth.

For example, Germany’s new migration law passed in August aims to attract skilled workers from outside the EU for this very purpose. Similarly, the Danish government has approved a three-year visa for international students who want to stay and work after graduation in the Scandinavian country.

On the other hand, however, around 27.5 million people of working age in Europe declared themselves unemployed, underemployed, looking for work but not immediately available, or ready but not looking for work.

This means that just over one in eight EU residents is exposed to the so-called “slack”, defined by the International Labor Organization as “the difference between the amount of work that workers want and the amount of paid work available”.