An increase in job vacancies was recorded in the first quarter of 2022, while more people were employed in the public sector in May.
According to the Cyprus Statistical Service of Cyprus, job vacancies increased by 6,113 to 90.4% in the first three months to March.
The total number of job vacancies in March was 12,874, with 6,113 more vacancies, compared to the previous year, when it was 6,761.
Compared to Q4, 2021 job vacancies increased by 3,231 (33.5%).
The job vacancy rate in the first quarter was 3.2%, while the job vacancy rate in the previous quarter and Q1 2021 was 2.4% and 2.0%, respectively.
The largest job vacancy rates in Q1 were in the sectors of Accommodation and Food Service Activities (10.2%), Administrative and Support Services (4.3%), Human Health and Social Work (3.4%) and Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities (3.3%).
Government employment
An increase was recorded in government employment in the wider public sector.
In May, total government employment increased by 360 persons (0.7%) from the same month last year, reaching 53,668.
Permanent staff decreased by 683 persons (-2.6%), from 26,686 to 26,003.
Casual staff increased by 1,056 (5.8%) to 19,251 from 18,195 people in May 2021.
An increase was observed in Civil Service (0.2%) and Educational Service staff (2.4%), but there was a decrease in Security Forces staff (-0.1%).
There was also a decrease in all three categories of permanent staff; the highest was the Civil Service (-3.4%).
On the contrary, there was an increase in all three categories of casual staff; the highest was observed in Educational Services (9.4%).
There was a decrease in hourly-paid workers (-0.2%) compared to May 2021 due to COVID-19 services being wound down.
Employment in the Broad Public Sector in Q1 2022 reached 72,456 persons.
Employment in General Government was 66,813, and for Publicly Owned Enterprises and Companies, it was 5,643.
Broad Public Sector employment increased by 2.637 (3.8%) from the same quarter of 2021.
Hiring in Central Government increased by 2.380 (4%) and in Local Authorities by 293 (7.3%), whereas employment in Publicly Owned Enterprises and Companies decreased by 36 (-0.6%).
