In Serbia, some of the most sought-after occupations are traders and salespeople, IT experts and administrative workers, while the labor market lacks craftsmen the most. By June of this year, more than 38,000 job advertisements were published on Infostud, which is 10 percent less than in the same period last year, when about 42,000 were published.
According to Turinski, there is great interest in jobs in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and catering. He added that the mentioned occupations have been the most sought after for years and that in this sense there is no big difference compared to last year.
“These are the most sought-after jobs in the last 15, 20 years. Trade and sales have held the first place since the foundation of Infostud,” Turinski said. He stated that these jobs will be in demand in the coming period and added that it can be expected that car mechanics, hairdressers, carpenters and plumbers will also be in deficit in the future.
The labor market is increasingly lacking professional drivers and cooks. Turinski explains that there are not enough craftsmen because a large number of qualified workers have gone to Western Europe, while young people in Serbia are not interested in those professions, but want to do some more modern jobs.
“We have to work on education, so that young people understand that these professions are not less valuable and that they can bring them, on the one hand, a safe and stable job, and on the other, a high salary,” Turinski said. When it comes to occupations that are the best paid, Turinski states that jobs in the IT sector lead the way, where the average salary is around 1,700 euros, and trades are also well paid, where the salary can be up to 3,000 euros.
“The IT sector suffered a slight crisis this year and we have a slight stagnation in employment, but I expect that to change already at the beginning of next year,” Turinski said. The pandemic has brought numerous innovations in the way of doing business, such as working from home, which has become a practice in many companies, and Turinski points out that on an annual basis, about 4,000 jobs are offered that allow working from home or from some remote place.
“It is enough to have a laptop, internet or mobile phone depending on the position and the work you do,” he said. He added that digital literacy is important for any job and that people are expected to know how to use at least basic tools such as email, video programs and connectivity.
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