Labor market cooling in July

Data from JobTiger shows that job postings in Bulgaria in July decreased to 35,204, which represents a drop of 7.1% compared to the previous month. On an annual basis, the trend is also negative – 10.6% fewer job offers.

The decline is not a one-time event, but an accumulating process throughout the entire month, experts from JobTiger point out.

Which sectors are most affected?

  • Hotel and restaurant industry: A decline of 18%, likely due to the end of the active phase of seasonal hiring.
  • Manufacturing: A decrease of 9.1% due to upcoming summer vacations and maintenance work.
  • Trade and sales: A drop of 6.5%, which significantly affects the overall market due to the scale of the sector.

Despite the general trend, the sectors of "Accounting, Audit, and Finance" (+9.1%) and "Marketing and Advertising" (+3.5%) recorded growth in offers.

What is the situation with remote work?

Remote work remains surprisingly resilient. Although the absolute number of work-from-home job postings decreased by 1.3%, their share relative to the total market increased slightly to 7.4%. This indicates that employers are maintaining higher activity in hiring remote employees than for office-based positions.

Expectations for the autumn

Analysts expect a lull in August due to the active vacation period. The key indicator for the direction of the market will be September – if the autumn recovery of recruitment processes is weak, it will confirm employer caution regarding new hires.