Salaries are growing, but the number of potential candidates is falling

Prague, 2nd June 2016

The Grafton Recruitment agency has published the results of an extensive salary survey. This material provides a clear comparison of financial compensation in 8 key segments in 14 regions of the Czech Republic. The survey indicates that there was a rising imbalance between demand for employees and the supply of capacities from candidates in 2015. Employers prevented high-quality, stable employees from leaving their jobs by increasing salaries. According to the Czech Statistical Office, salaries increased nominally by 3.4% in 2015 and this growth will be encouraged again this year by the continuing economic revival, together with the record-breaking low unemployment rate.

The manufacturing and IT sectors currently report the greatest shortage of employees, and the number of vacant jobs is also growing in the field of human resources and business services. IT and the financial segment show the greatest regional differences in salaries and there are also significant differences in compensation of employees without a foreign language and those who do speak a foreign language across all the market segments we monitor.

“With regard to the growing shortage of job applicants, employers are beginning to re-evaluate their requirements concerning new employees. Companies are now employing employees with less experience and more opportunities are also starting to appear for fresh graduates who have good language skills,” says Martin Ježek, Sales Director at Grafton Recruitment, who adds, “Manufacturing companies or companies in the corporate services sector are also starting to be actively interested in recruiting employees from abroad.”

Surveys also show that companies are starting to review their offer of benefits so that they are more attractive for employees – for example, they are increasing contributions towards additional pension or life insurance, extending holiday leave, implementing full coverage of meals, or contributing up to one hundred percent towards the cost of commuting to work. They are also improving working conditions for their employees.

“The good news for employers is that candidates are no longer afraid to change jobs. On the other hand, they usually do so with the requirement of a higher salary. Companies which flexibly respond to changes on the job market and will be able to reinforce their teams with finished, but more expensive employees, supplemented by talented graduates, will be more successful in recruitment,” Martin Ježek commented.

IT and telecommunications: there is a shortfall of 20 thousand IT experts in the Czech Republic.
Demand for IT services is growing continuously in relation to the rising demands for IT activities in the economy in general. According to some sources, there is a shortage of up to 20 thousand IT experts in this sector. Companies are also having to deal with qualification differences, where schools are slow to respond to job market trends and the level of technical knowledge is falling. The deficiency of human resources is most apparent in relation to qualified specialists. There is a significant shortage of programmers for the development of desktop, web and mobile applications, and IT security experts. There is also a lot of demand for experts specialising in Big Data and data analysis. This shortage of people is causing a lot of competition among companies in their fight for employees – companies also frequently have to compete for candidates who do not meet all their original requirements. Companies who respond actively and quickly in combination with an offer of attractive working conditions are more successful. This sector is characterised by its significant regional differences in salary. For example, a system architect in Prague may earn up to CZK 100,000, CZK 90,000 in Brno, CZK 70,000 in Pilsen or Ostrava and just CZK 55,000 in Olomouc. Similar differences can be found in nearly all positions.

Industry: a shortage of specialists and unqualified labour force. There is rising interest in workers from other countries.
Expansion of manufacturing facilities and the establishment of new development centres means thousands of new jobs and also great competition between companies in the field of acquisition of high-quality employees, who are encouraged to change jobs mainly by better financial offers. Specialists in the field of machine engineering, electrical engineering and electronics are in greatest demand. The most sought-after candidates are design engineers, technologists and manufacturing engineers, demand is also rising for specialists in technical purchasing, quality and lean management, and there is also a great shortage of CNC operators, tool makers, quality controller and warehouse workers with a forklift truck licence. Due to the absolute dearth of employees, companies are becoming more and more interested in recruiting foreigners, particularly from Slovakia, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria. Foreign companies frequently require that even applicants for labourer positions have at least basic English or German. Salaries do not differ regionally as markedly as in IT, for example, a head of manufacturing will earn CZK 100,000 in Prague, Brno or Ústí nad Labem, CZK 90,000 in Pilsen, Jihlava or Zlín, CZK 70,000 in Olomouc, and CZK 120,000 in Ostrava. A CNC operator will receive a salary of CZK 40,000 in Prague, CZK 30,000 in Brno and CZK 28,000 in Olomouc, Liberec or Jihlava. Workers in this position will earn the least in Zlín (CZK 23,000).

Corporate services: languages, languages, languages. The more languages a candidate has, the more money he/she can earn.
The corporate services sector is registering dynamic growth – most existing centres are expanding and recruiting new employees, and new plants are being opened. The situation on the job market is distinguished by the rising number of vacancies and the falling number of active applicants in the Czech Republic. This results in more competition among companies, who are now forced to increase salaries following a period of relative stability. Shared services centres are interested in candidates with various language combinations – English is usually considered a matter of course and fluency in another European language is a benefit. German, French and Dutch are the most desirable. Demand for graduates of economic branches, ideally with at least some experience from abroad, is increasing in general, and graduates of universities specialising in foreign language studies are also finding interesting work in centres. The positions employers are most interested in for IT centres are helpdesk employees and specialists in network technologies, system support, virtualisation and application support. Specialists in customer care, HR managers and administrators, recruitment, modification and benefit managers or accountants, financial analysts, buyers and logistics workers will also find jobs in this segment.

Human resources: personnel officers have their hands full due to the boom on the job market.
The overall growth of the market and the economy has resulted in great demand for candidates for the position of recruiters, personnel officers and HR administrators. This growth is related to the development of shared services centres, which frequently specialise in services in the field of human resources.

Administration and law: we have enough solicitors on the market, but secretaries are in short supply.
Interest is greatest in assistants and receptionists in the administrative sector and demand for sales agents has also increased. Companies are showing greater willingness to employ university or secondary school graduates in these positions, but they place more emphasis on the candidate’s personality and motivation, as well as on his/her language skills. The salary expectations of graduates are growing and frequently exceed offers from employers.

On the contrary, demand for solicitors remains constant in the field of legal services. Companies frequently point out that the level of knowledge of graduates of faculties of law is lower than in previous years. Salaries of corporate lawyers are frequently tens of thousands of crowns less than the salaries of solicitors with the same amount of experience, but, in spite of this, candidates are increasingly more willing to leave law firms to start working for companies, mainly due to their desire for shorter working hours.

Sales marketing: fluent English and knowledge of digital technologies is a necessity.
Managers of sales units, sales assistants, key account managers, brand managers and marketers. All of these have the opportunity to find a good job on the market today due to the rising number of vacancies. Emphasis is placed on sales skills, language skills, a pleasant appearance and behaviour, and customer services. In the marketing sector, candidates must have extensive knowledge of the field they wish to work in, frequently overlapping into IT, excellent communication skills and creativity. Fluent English and a university education are essential for most marketing positions. A digital marketing manager will earn up to CZK 80,000 in Prague and Brno, other regions differ markedly – for example, up to CZK 60,000 can be earned in Ostrava, Pilsen or Ústí nad Labem, CZK 45,000 in Olomouc and CZK 37,000 in Zlín.

Banking and the financial sphere: there is a growing need for candidates familiar with international accounting.
Specialist accountants with English language skills and candidates for the position of head of accounting or accounting department manager are in greatest demand. People in these positions can earn up to CZK 70,000, and between CZK 40,000 to CZK 50,000 in the regions. University graduates have a good chance of finding a job in this sphere, but insufficient English language skills may be an obstacle for many candidates. The requirement of a candidate’s knowledge of international accounting according to IFRS and US GAAP reporting standards is becoming a trend. The development of shared services centres also results in rising demand for candidates with experience in financial analyses and pricing.

Construction and real estate: foreign language skills, particularly English, remain a significant qualification bonus.
Companies active specifically in civil engineering are growing and recruiting employees. There is particular interest in project managers and experienced sales agents. A project manager can earn up to CZK 80,000 in Prague, and monthly salaries range between 45 and 50 thousand in other regions.

Pharmacy and healthcare: There is a shortage of nurses and pharmaceutical agents.
The pharmacy and healthcare sector is distinguished by the need for education in this field, and previous experience in the field is also welcome. Demand in the pharmaceutical sector is greatest for candidates for the position of pharmaceutical agent, key account manager, product/brand manager and for the regulatory affairs department. Candidates for all these positions must have good English skills. A new trend in the healthcare sector is rising demand for nurses and other specialised healthcare personnel. A nurse earns less than a CNC operator – CZK 30,000 in Prague, Liberec, Pilsen or Hradec Králové, and around CZK 25,000 in other regions.

About the Grafton Recruitment salary survey
The Grafton Recruitment survey was carried out in the Czech Republic during the 1st quarter of 2016 in all 14 company branches. The presented data are mainly based on starting salaries of candidates for whom Grafton arranged employment, and also on companies’ requests for candidates.