Ljubljana - Almost 40% of Slovenians lost their jobs or were forced to work fewer hours as a result of the Covid-19 crisis and over half are willing to retrain to keep their job or get a new one, a global survey suggests.

The Global Talent Survey 2020 on the mobility and preferences of jobseekers, shows 38% of those questioned in Slovenia were forced to work fewer hours or lost their jobs, which compares to the global average of 36%.

Meanwhile, 54% of the respondents in Slovenia and 68% globally said they were willing to retrain.

The Global Talent Survey was conducted in Slovenia by the largest Slovenian online job portal MojeDelo.com and the Boston Consulting Group. In total, there were 209,000 participants from 190 countries, including 1,617 Slovenians aged between 17 and 65.

The willingness to learn new skills to increase employment opportunities is generally higher among employees in industries that have suffered more from the pandemic.

Almost three quarters of employees in service, sales and customer support sectors globally are willing to retrain, while employees in sectors such as health and medicine, social work and science and research are less willing to do so, as their jobs are perceived as more secure.

Digital, IT, office and management jobs top the list of potential new careers, the survey shows.

The authors of the survey note that there is a growing global awareness of the importance of adapting to the labour market, the need for lifelong learning and the acquisition of new skills.

According to the survey, 65% of all respondents are learning additionally on the job, 62% are self-learning, 48% are taking online training courses, 41% are attending conferences and seminars to learn new skills, and 36% are using mobile apps.