Employers in all four Slovenian regions plan to increase their staff in the first quarter of 2019. The most vibrant hiring is expected in central Slovenia, where 20% more jobs are expected to be opened, which is the most in the last eight years since Manpower conducts the survey.

Employment prospects are the highest in construction and manufacturing (+26%), followed by financial and business services, insurance and real estate, and transport, logistics and communications, where net outlook is stable at +23% for the second quarter in succession.

The highest net outlook for hiring on record was also recorded in wholesale and retail (+21%) and in mining and quarrying (+16%).

In annual comparison, employment outlook improved in seven of the nine sectors, most notably in electricity, gas and water supply (+12 percentage points), followed by financial and business services, insurance and real estate (+11 points), and construction (+10 points).

Companies of all sizes plan to increase staff, most notably big companies (+32%). The net outlook for hiring at middle-sized companies is +17%, at small companies +16% and at micro companies +11%.

Employers from all 26 countries from Europe, Middle East and Africa are optimistic about hiring between January and March. On the quarterly level, the prospects for hiring increased in eight countries and dropped in 15, while they improved in 12 and deteriorated in 13 countries in annual comparison.

Next to Slovenian employers, the most optimistic were employers in Greece, while the least optimistic were those in Switzerland. The prospects for hiring in Slovenia and Greece are also among the most promising in the world, preceded only by Japan, Taiwan and the US.