The Number of Job Vacancies in Slovakia’s Labour Market is Among the Lowest in Europe

28/08/2025

Slovakia has joined the ranks of European countries with the lowest number of vacancies in the national labour market, reports Eurostat.

In calculating the vacancy rate, the study’s authors considered the ratio of vacancies to the total number of jobs in the country. For example, if out of 100 jobs, 97 were filled and employers were seeking employees for the remaining three positions, the rate would be 3%. Eurostat explained that a lower level reflects unmet demand for labour, as well as a possible mismatch between the skills and availability of potential employees and the requirements of employers.

Among EU countries, Slovakia ranked fifth from the bottom with a rate of 1.1%. Only Bulgaria, Poland, Spain, and Romania fared worse.

According to the publication Trend, the most acute problem in Slovakia remains the shortage of teachers. For instance, before the start of the 2025/2026 school year, nearly 1250 job offers from 645 Slovak schools were posted on the specialised portal edujobs.sk.

As of early August, the most popular job search portal in Slovakia, profesia.sk, had 16,700 job offers posted. Most of these were in the fields of trade, manufacturing, transport, education, and management.

The highest vacancy rates were recorded in the Netherlands (4.2%), Belgium (4.1%), and Austria (3.4%). Overall, the study’s data indicate that the highest demand for labour is observed in the northern and western parts of Europe. In contrast, it is declining in the eastern, central, and southern parts of Europe.

In quantitative terms, the largest number of vacancies in EU countries is open in Germany and France – over a million and about 500,000 respectively.

Overall, the shortage of skilled personnel is becoming a serious problem for employers across Europe. According to ManpowerGroup, in 2023, 75% of employers in 21 European countries were unable to find workers with the necessary skills. Five years earlier, this figure was only 42%.