AmCham Slovakia

The most competitive sector in Slovakia is Health Care & Life Sciences, with an outlook of 43. This sector reports the greatest growth in expectations, recovering by 47 points from last quarter and 54 points since Q4 2024.

Slovakian organizations expect a positive but subdued job market in Q4 2025 with a Net Employment Outlook (NEO) of 14 points. The outlook remains unchanged from last quarter but weakens by 5 points compared to this time last year. Globally, Slovakia ranks in the bottom half of countries for its employment expectations, 9 points below the global average.

The global seasonally adjusted Net Employment Outlook (NEO) fell to 23, weakening slightly by 1 point from last quarter and 2 points this time last year.

Although the Slovak labor market remains in positive territory in the fourth quarter of 2025, the most important sectors of our economy – industry and manufacturing – are experiencing a significant decline in recruitment plans compared to previous quarters. Slow economic growth and continuing uncertainty are causing employers to hesitate to hire new workers. Only the healthcare and services sectors have optimistic prospects," said Zuzana Rumiz, General Manager of ManpowerGroup Slovakia.

THE NEO ACROSS SECTORS

Slovakian organizations in 7 of 9 sectors forecast increasing staffing levels in the fourth quarter of 2025, while 2 sectors expect a decrease. The most competitive sector in Slovakia is Health Care & Life Sciences, with an outlook of 43. This sector reports the greatest growth in expectations, recovering by 47 points from last quarter and 54 points since Q4 2024. Slovakia ranks sixth globally for the Health Care & Life Sciences sector's outlook, outperforming the sector’s average by 23 points.

The second most significant sector is Energetic and Utilities (33%). Compared to the previous quarter, we recorded a decline of 2 points. The communications services sector ranked third (28%).

Slovakia's hiring landscape is characterized by caution among employers. The labor market faces significant uncertainty due to external factors, including trade tensions that particularly impact Slovakia’s key sectors: automotive and machinery. The most significant decline compared to the previous quarter was recorded in the sector Transport, logistics and automotive (- 41 points).

THE NEO ACROSS REGIONS

Slovakian employers in all 4 regions anticipate an increase in staffing levels in the next quarter. The most competitive region in Slovakia is the Western Slovakia region with a NEO of 22, rising by 9 points since last quarter, and 5 points since Q4 2024. Reporting the greatest increase out of the Slovakian sectors, this quarter is the highest NEO recorded in Western Slovakia since we started tracking in Q4 2011.

THE NEO ACROSS S ORGANIZATION SIZES

All 6 organization sizes expect increasing staffing levels in the upcoming quarter. Since last quarter, employment outlooks have strengthened in 3 organization sizes and weakened in 3. Since this time last year, hiring intentions have weakened in 4 organization sizes and strengthened in 2.

Slovakian employers in large enterprises with 5,000 or more employees are the most optimistic with a NEO of 38. These organizations report the greatest growth in outlooks, rising by 30 points since last quarter and 42 points since Q4 2024.

GLOBAL OVERVIEW

• The global seasonally adjusted Net Employment Outlook (NEO) fell to 23, weakening slightly by 1 point from last quarter and 2 points this time last year. While the outlook was stable at the beginning of 2025, the last two quarters have shown a slight cooling. Although the global job market still appears resilient, there are signs of softening. Indeed, over half of the surveyed countries and territories reported a decline in their outlooks from last quarter.
• Globally, employers in U.A.E. (45 %), India (40 %) and Brazil (36 %) have the strongest hiring plans. The weakest hirings are expected in Argentina (5 %), Hong Kong (6 %) and Hungary (8 %).
• The employment outlook in Europe (18, +1) holds up, as the region’s labor market has been largely resilient in recent months. However, the European employment outlook is still the lowest out of the global regions. Despite the sluggish economy, the job vacancy rate remains quite steady, and the employment rate reaches record highs. Ireland (29) reports leading employment expectations in Europe, aligning with reports of the highest economic growth among European countries.

"Although Slovak employers are approaching recruitment with greater caution, we see a positive sign in the fact that moderate growth in the number of employees is expected in all regions and in all sizes of companies. The most optimistic are in western Slovakia, which has achieved historically high growth, confirming its key role in the Slovak labor market," said Zuzana Rumiz, General Manager of ManpowerGroup Slovakia.

THE FUTURE OF WORK IN THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY: KEY TRENDS THAT ARE CHANGING THE RULES OF THE GAME

The latest report from ManpowerGroup, Automotive World of Work 2025 Outlook, shows that the automotive sector is on the verge of a major transformation. Although sales of electric vehicles will exceed 20 million units in 2025, the pace of growth is slowing in key regions. At the same time, 91% of manufacturers say that trade tensions and uncertainty in global politics are negatively affecting their recruitment strategies.

Manufacturers are increasingly relying on hybrid skills, a combination of technical and soft skills, and 74% admit that they are still struggling with a shortage of skilled workers. The aging workforce and low participation in training remain key challenges, threatening the sector's competitiveness.

The report also highlights fundamental changes in business models. Software-defined vehicles, shared mobility, and advanced connectivity are opening new revenue streams, while also fundamentally changing the demand for skills. Automation production is putting pressure on job roles to change, but at the same time it is creating space for more effective team development and better management change.

The conclusion of the report is clear: competition for talent in the automotive industry will be more intense than ever before. Employers who can turn uncertainty into opportunity, invest in training, and leverage the experience of older workers to develop hybrid skills will gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace.

‘The future of the automotive sector lies in a combination of technology and skilled people. Investment in education, talent development and hybrid skills will ensure we remain highly competitive.’ Zuzana Rumiz, General Manager, ManpowerGroup Slovakia

ABOUT THE SURVEY

The ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook Survey is the most comprehensive, forward-looking employment survey of its kind, used globally as a key economic indicator. The Net Employment Outlook is derived by taking the percentage of employers anticipating an increase in hiring activity and subtracting from this the percentage of employers expecting a decrease in hiring activity. Full results of the ManpowerGroup Employment Outlook survey are available at https://go.manpowergroup.com/meos. Detailed results for Slovakia can be found at www.manpower.sk/magazin/tag/prieskumy.

In the context of the labour market survey, 523 Slovak employers were asked: “How do you expect the total number of employees in your company to change in the following quarter by the end of September compared to the current quarter?”

ABOUT MANPOWERGROUP

ManpowerGroup® (NYSE: MAN), the leading global workforce solutions company, helps organizations transform in a fast-changing world of work by sourcing, assessing, developing, and managing the talent that enables them to win. We develop innovative solutions for hundreds of thousands of organizations every year, providing them with skilled talent while finding meaningful, sustainable employment for millions of people across a wide range of industries and skills. Our expert family of brands – Manpower, Experis, and Talent Solutions – creates substantially more value for candidates and clients across more than 75 countries and territories and has done so for over 70 years. We are recognized consistently for our diversity – as a best place to work for Women, Inclusion, Equality, and Disability, and in 2025 ManpowerGroup was named one of the World's Most Ethical Companies for the 16th year – all confirming our position as the brand of choice for in-demand talent. www.manpowergroup.com

MANPOWERGROUP SLOVAKIA

In Slovakia, ManpowerGroup takes care of the HR and payroll agenda of more than 1,100 employees every month, who work for ManpowerGroup's clients. Thanks to its network of seven offices, ManpowerGroup finds 3,000 new employees for 350 clients annually. For more information, visit www.manpower.sk.

Unless otherwise stated, all data are seasonally adjusted. The formula with which the data is adjusted from seasonal fluctuations is improved from quarter to quarter, and with the new formula the data for the previous quarters are also recalculated, taking into account the more data available to us.