Demand for company staff surges 36 pct in second quarter
Demand for corporate staff accelerated in the second quarter of 2004, registering an impressive 36 percent rise on an annual basis, according to a research study conducted by Kantor Humanis. The rise, which confirmed a trend which began in the last quarter of 2003, mainly applied to the services and commerce sectors, together with the category of sales staff, which accounted for 55 percent of total demand. In fact, demand for sales staff has shown an impressive rise since the end of 2002. Commerce registered the biggest rise in demand for staff in relation to the same period in 2003, a fact explained by the expected surge in activity due to the Olympic Games. But demand in the services sector has been the strongest in the last three quarters. However, although the number of ads for staff has multiplied year-on-year, the share of services in them dropped from 43 percent to 31 percent, while commerce gained. The survey shows a further decline in demand for staff in the construction sector, while information technology and telecoms had recovered from a slump by early 2003. Demand for bank staff surged 168 percent in relation to the previous quarter. The specializations of sales, production and accounting services enjoy the strongest demand in the market, accounting for 61 percent of job ads. Logistics registered a 273 percent rise in demand for staff from the previous quarter. In general, demand fell for middle- and high-ranking staff and rose for lower ranks with lowlier administrative tasks, which indicates a tendency for firms to develop their existing human resources.
