Unrealistic salary expectations are the most frequent obstacle when recruiting.
72% of respondents consider attracting talent a major challenge while recruiting.
75% of the participant companies are planning to increase their employees’ salaries in 2023.
The labor market embodies several new trends, focusing on changes in the workplace, the continuous development of the hybrid model and the use of new technologies in the human resources sector. With the work environment undergoing significant, continuous changes in recent years, the HR Trends survey by Randstad, the global leader in the HR services industry, documents the evolution and challenges of the market for 2023, staffing and talent retention practices, opportunities, and challenges at work.
The 2023 Randstad HR trends survey is dedicated to delivering insights into how companies are adapting to the current economic context, what are the challenges they are facing, and how they plan to deal with them in the following year.
The survey was conducted from December 2022 to March 2023 with the participation of 440 executives from various sectors of the Greek market and a crucial role in decision-making. As part of the survey, which will be analyzed in the webinar on Tuesday, May 9, the salary report is also presented, as every year, covering different sectors of the Greek market.
business evolution and challenges
45% of the HR executives who participated in the survey expect dealing with the higher 'cost of doing business’ due to inflation to be the greatest challenge of the current year. In addition, 42% of respondents think ensuring processes and guaranteeing productivity is a major challenge in the current period, up from 24% in 2022, while 37% say that managing high energy costs is the next unpredictable factor that will impact the labor market.
attracting and retaining top talents
A challenge in the job market today is the high expectations and the limited experience of employees. 66% of respondents expect unrealistic salary expectations, which has increased by 17 percentage points compared to 2022. The increased cost of living and the overall demand, of every generation in the workplace, to achieve a better quality of life has led candidates to seek jobs with increased salary requirements, which in most cases are unrealistic and are inhibiting factors to the development of their career path. Respondents encounter difficulties in finding candidates with the necessary industry working experience (51%) and limited specific educational skills (42%).
A crucial point from the survey is that companies face difficulties in hiring employees who meet their needs. For 72% of respondents, attracting top talent is a major challenge when recruiting. Also, it is difficult for 59% to keep employees engaged, and 55% find it difficult to retain top performers and develop talented leaders.
Adopting new strategic solutions by companies is a prerequisite for addressing human resources challenges: the education and training programs integration is a priority for 68% of companies. Improving wages is the second most effective way of addressing existing challenges, with 56% of companies. The remote and hybrid working models are at the top of the list again this year, with a percentage of 34%. Offering personalized benefits packages to employees represents a method of addressing HR challenges, according to 33% of executives surveyed (compared to 25% in 2022).
hiring plans for 2023
The labor market in Greece remains significantly positive regarding companies' intention to increase the number of their employees, with 54% of people surveyed planning to increase their headcount in 2023, a decrease of 24 percentage points compared to 2022 (78%). On the contrary, only 3% of companies are considering a headcount decrease, with 76% of the participant companies that have open positions this year stating a need to hire new employees due to the business growth of their companies. At the same time, 45% of companies have already created new positions to cover their needs, a significant increase of 38 percentage points compared to the previous year (7% in 2022).
Of particular interest are the hiring intentions. Most companies are looking for candidates in the IT/technology or sales departments with 54% and 48%, respectively, while for the same sectors, as well as the engineering sector, the recruitment and selection of the appropriate candidates for the position and the company is the biggest challenge. Finally, employee referrals and professional digital networks are the most frequent recruitment practices and sources.
company attractiveness
According to the findings of the Randstad survey, most responding companies consider offering an attractive salary and benefits alongside career progression opportunities to constitute the top attributes that make their company attractive for candidates. Almost 40% believe that it is essential for their companies to offer a pleasant working atmosphere or a good work-life balance to attract and retain talent.
In a competitive work environment, attracting and retaining talent is at the forefront. Companies offer various benefits to their workforce, focusing on financial support, training educational programs, and flexible working environments with a hybrid or remote working model.
attractive salaries and benefits and opportunities for career improvement are the main reasons to leave a company
74% of the employees leave their job due to receiving better pay or better conditions at another employer, while 50% seek more opportunities for career improvement elsewhere. Also, 12% of the employees consider a flexible work schedule a reason to leave their job and search for a more convenient one.
salaries in greece
According to survey results, as reflected in the 2023 salary report of the current labor market in Greece, the highest financial salaries are offered in the technology and sales industries for another year. The finance sector and shipping industry are in third and fourth place.
Looking at salary trends, almost 70% of the respondents estimate the salaries in their company to be the same as their competitors. It is optimistic that 75% of companies plan to give employees raises during the current year, while for just 15% of them, the salaries will remain at the same level, compared to 27% last year.
webinar about ‘HR trends & salaries 2023’
On the occasion of the publication of the HR Trends 2023 survey, Randstad will hold a webinar on Tuesday, May 9, at 11.00 a.m. on HR trends and salaries, with Lida Sgouraki, Director, Professionals, Randstad Hellas, and Grigoris Anastasiadis, Commercial Director, Randstad Hellas, presenting the recruitment plans in the Greek labor market, the impediments when recruiting, and the strategies that HR departments are implementing to face today's challenges.
The webinar is addressed to the following professionals: Directors and HR Managers, HR Executives of all levels, Company executives that are handling HR matters, Decision Makers: Hiring/Line Managers, Team Leaders & Project Managers, General Managers, Members of the management team, Financial Directors or executives of the financial department, founders or startup executives, company owners, Executives of communication and marketing departments, employees who would like to learn more about working field, so they can effectively plan their career.
You can sign up here
You can see the findings of the survey here