Analytics, Baltic Export, Good for Business, Labour-market, Latvia, Markets and Companies

This shows that demand for workers in Latvia is on the rise.

Businesspeople at this time are cautiously optimistic about employee numbers, with the scale of the index increasing a bit (to 50.46 points) during the last quarter. When the scale is above 50 points, that indicates optimism, while when it is below 50 points that suggests pessimism.

Managers of exporting companies were more likely in the first quarter of 2014 than in the fourth quarter of 2013 to say that they plan to increase staff numbers over the next six months (50.61 and 52.67 points respectively). Asked whether they needed to hire new employees during the past six months, exporters answered positively more often at the end of 2013 than at the beginning of 2014 (52.51 and 51.17 points respectively).

Citadele Bank economist Zigurds Vaikulis says that the Citadele Index shows that companies have been expanding staff nearly three years in a row now, which is why the jobless rate in Latvia has shrunk to less than 12% of economically active residents, as opposed to a 20% rate during the depths of the recent economic crisis in 2010.

“The number of job seekers in Latvia are no longer far from the level at which we can speak of a ‘warming up’ in the labour market,” says Vaikulis.  “As the economy continues to grow, it will be more and more complicated for businesspeople to find employees with the necessary qualifications, and that will most likely involve a more rapid increase in wages in future.”

The SIA Dižozols Plus company in Acone manufactures furniture parts and exports products to Denmark, Sweden, Norway, the United States and England.  During the last half-year, the company has created 17 new jobs, increasing staff numbers from 80 to 97.  It continues to seek new employees, because during the past half-year the company has found several new clients.  This means that it needs to increase output of its products.

SIA Dižozols Plus director Gatis Rudzītis: “Export volumes are increasing, and we are looking for new staffers so as to ensure higher revenues. Revenues in 2013 increased by 36% in comparison to 2012.  Five years ago, when we launched the company, we only had ten specialists. All of them had experience with wood processing.  Today we are looking for experienced master craftspeople, but often we find that new hires require training and practice before they can really get to work.  We advertise for new employees and seek the support of the State Employment Agency.”