IT: Record recruitment in the Greek market in 2023

The role of the IT sector as a locomotive of employment in Greece is confirmed, which, as Labor Inspectorate-SEPE notes, is emerging as the most competitive in terms of recruitment. The strongest sector in Greece, in terms of hiring intention in the 1st quarter of 2023, is Information Technology with employment prospects reaching 27%.

This percentage is up 22% from the previous quarter and up 15% from a year earlier. “We must face the challenge of the rapid increase in overall employment prospects in the IT industry (27%) and look for those talents who will respond to existing and future roles”, comments ManpowerGroup Greece.

Overall, the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey for the 1st quarter of 2023 (January-March) shows encouraging signs for employment prospects in the Greek market. Employment prospects return to a positive sign and stand at 7%, up by 9% compared to the last quarter of 2022. In addition, 28% of the 520 Greek employers who participated in the survey state that they expect an increase in the number of employees, 46 % do not expect any change, while 22% predict a decrease.

Top place for IT

The sign of the overall narrative on the Employment Outlook remains positive for almost all industries, as Greek employers expect an increase in the hiring rate in 7 out of 9 industries. No differentiation is expected in the “Communications” sector, while only in “Other Services” a decrease of 6% is expected. After the Information Technology sector, which gathers the strongest employment prospects, follows Industry and Construction with employment prospects of 13%, increased by 29% compared to the immediately previous quarter and decreased by 6% compared to the 1st quarter of 2022. The most strong region in terms of hiring intention in Greece is Northern Greece with an overall employment outlook of 18%, demonstrating the region’s dynamism and recording an increase of 21% compared to the 4th quarter of 2022 and 17% compared to the 1st quarter of 2022. Positive employment outlook (3%) are recorded in the Greater Region of Greece, marking an increase of 13% compared to the last quarter of 2022 and a decrease of 2% compared to the 1st quarter of 2022. Negative employment prospects are noted in the region of Attica (-2%).

Employers in organizations with more than 250 employees are more optimistic, expecting the largest increase in employment +21% up 7% from Q4 2022 and up 11% from Q1 2022. More a weak staffing climate (-1%) prevails in companies with a staff of 10-49 people.

Global prospects

ManpowerGroup’s Employment Outlook Survey for Q1 2023 shows that the global hiring climate remains strong. Hiring intentions are positive in 39 of the 41 markets surveyed, with an overall net employment outlook of 23%, but down 6% from Q4 2022. The strongest hiring intentions for the next quarter are in Panama (39%), Costa Rica (37%) and Canada (34%). The weakest in Poland (-2%) and Hungary (-8%). Employers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) report subtly reduced hiring expectations: 18% versus 21% in the immediate prior quarter. 36% of employers in the region expect an increase in employment prospects (the corresponding percentage in Greece is 28%), 20% predict a decrease, while 40% expect no change.