EURES answers your top questions on labour shortages and surpluses in Europe

 

What professions are in demand in Europe?

Based on the findings of the report, here are the top 15 professions in demand in Europe:

1. Bricklayers and related workers
2. Carpenters and joiners
3. Heavy truck and lorry drivers
4. Metal working machine tool setters and operators
5. Nursing professionals
6. Plumbers and pipe fitters
7. Building and related electricians
8. Welders and flame cutters
9. Concrete placers, concrete finishers and related workers
10. Sheet metal workers
11. Floor layers and tile setters
12. Software developers
13. Cooks
14. Building construction labourers
15. Electrical mechanics and fitters

From Q1 of 2021 to Q2 of 2022, total employment in the construction sector expanded by 6%, but for construction craft workers it expanded by 5.8%. The report explains this may have caused a tension between the number of craft workers and the overall increase in employment. Hence, this could have been a contributing factor to skilled construction workers, like bricklayers, becoming the 2022 number one in-demand job, up from seventh place in the 2021 report.

Which countries have a shortage of construction jobs?

The report concludes that the most widespread shortages were for jobs related to software, healthcare, and construction and engineering craft occupations. Many EURES followers are interested in a job in construction and ask which European countries have a shortage in this sector.

Here are the results:

• Bricklayers (and related workers): Belgium, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, Slovenia, Slovakia.
• Builders (using traditional materials): Slovakia.
• Building construction labourers: Belgium, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Slovakia.
• Building finishers: Slovenia.
• Construction managers: Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania.
• Construction supervisors: Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Finland, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia.

Where are architects in demand?

Many EURES followers are architects curious about which countries their profession is in‑demand in. The report revealed that Switzerland and Denmark have a shortage of building architects, and there is a surplus in Slovenia. On the other hand, landscape architects are needed in Belgium, and there is a surplus in Denmark and Spain.

Where should communications and engineering students look for a job?

The EURES Instagram account has many student followers, and in a poll which the account ran, many said that they are studying communication or engineering, and enquired about the countries that have a demand for their future careers. Here are the countries with demand for these students’ potential future careers:

• Electrical Engineering Technicians: Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, Estonia, Germany, France, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia.
• Electrical Engineers: Switzerland, Finland, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia.
• Electronics Engineering Technicians: Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, the Netherlands, Norway.
• Electronics Engineers: Switzerland, the Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia.
• Engineering professionals not elsewhere classified: Belgium, Switzerland, Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Slovenia.
• Environmental Engineers: The Netherlands.
• Information and Communication Technology: Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Spain, France, Ireland, Norway, Estonia, Luxembourg, Romania.

In response to a quiz, most respondents said they are interested in Scandinavia as a career destination.

Two Scandinavian countries are among the countries with the highest reported shortage occupations: Norway reported the fifth highest number of shortage occupations, with 128, while Denmark was the seventh highest, reporting 106. Conversely, Denmark reported the highest number of surplus occupations, at 150. Sweden was the tenth lowest country for shortage occupations, with only 31 occupational shortages.

Both Denmark and Sweden have a healthcare occupation shortage. The Scandinavian countries also have shortages in engineering, construction and many other sectors. The full list of countries and occupation shortages is provided in the report.

Want to find out more about Europe’s labour shortages and surpluses? Read the report here.

 

Related links:

EURES report on labour shortages and surpluses 2022

 

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