Estonian recruitment focus shifts from salary to skills and speed

A Swedbank study on the retail sector indicates that the primary challenge for recruitment has shifted. While salary was the main obstacle last year, the current difficulty lies in finding employees with the necessary skills and qualifications, as the overall labor shortage in retail has significantly decreased.

In the broader labor market, recruitment agencies report an increase in demand, particularly in manufacturing and industry. According to Jaanika Tammekänd, CEO of HR Agentuur, the main bottleneck for hiring specialists and managers is no longer a lack of candidates, but rather the speed of the decision-making process. Employers who fail to act quickly or who use overly rigid profiles risk losing top talent to competitors.