Employers in the public and private sectors struggle to find the right mix of skills, while at the same time recruiting graduates into posts below their level and reporting staff whose skills exceed what their jobs require, according to the first cycle of Cyprus’ National Employers’ Skills Survey (2023) carried out by PwC Cyprus in collaboration with the Department of Higher Education (DHE).
The survey was published by the Ministry of Education on 9 November.
Data were collected between 24 May 2024 and 10 January 2025. In the Private Sector, a stratified random sample of 12,840 organisations was drawn from a target population of 29,567 organisations; 1,395 provided valid responses (a response rate of approximately 11%), and results were weighted to represent the employer population (employer-weighted) or the workforce (employee-weighted). In the Public Sector, no sampling frame exists and employer units cannot be defined consistently. A mapping exercise identified 916 senior officials, of whom 221 responded (a response rate of 24%).
Employment broadly stable in both sectors
The survey showed that employment was broadly stable in both sectors: 55% of Private Sector employers and 48% of Public Sector senior officials reported no change in employee numbers between January 2023 and January 2024 (private 26% increase / 19% decrease; public 28% increase / 24% decrease).
Respondents reported an average of 2.58 vacancies per organisation in the Private Sector and 10.4 per entity in the Public Sector, including those with no vacancies. Recruitment criteria differ in emphasis: Private Sector employers prioritise work experience (70%), enthusiasm for the job (63%) and relevant hard skills (59%), whereas Public Sector recruitment prioritises particular qualifications (73%), hard skills (67%) and work experience (66%) consistent with regulated selection procedures.
Hard-to-fill vacancies were most often reported for Professionals, Service and Sales Workers, Technicians and Associate Professionals and Clerical Support Workers in the Private Sector, and for Professionals, Technicians and Associate Professionals and Clerical Support Workers in the Public Sector.
In both sectors, employers and senior officials attributed recruitment difficulty more often to the lack of interest in the type of job (68% in the Private Sector and 50% in the Public Sector), according to the survey.
In the Private Sector, this was followed by a limited number of applicants generally (58%) and a limited number of applicants with the required skills (53%). Ιn the Public Sector, lack of interest was followed by poor employment terms and conditions, including remuneration (42%), and a limited number of applicants with the required skills (39%).
Not fully proficient
In addition, employers considered between 14% and 23% of employees across occupational categories not to be fully proficient in the Private Sector, and senior officials between 12% and 33% in the Public Sector (employee-based weights).
Among those that had recruited recent graduates, 34% of Private Sector employers (employer-weighted; N = 246) and 58% of Public Sector senior officials (unweighted; N = 77) reported appointing Higher Education graduates to posts that did not require a Higher Education qualification.
Over-skilling was reported by 45% of Private Sector employers (employer-weighted) and 69% of responding Public Sector of senior officials (unweighted).
The survey also noted that a majority in both sectors expect skills shortage over the next five years: 56% of Private Sector employers (25% at a high level, employer weighted) and 63% of Public Sector senior officials (21% at a high level, unweighted).
"The evidence points to a mismatch rather than a simple shortage of educated labour. Both sectors employ many people with higher education and rate recent graduates from Cyprus HEIs as at least moderately prepared. Yet employers in both still struggle to find the right mix of skills, while at the same time recruiting graduates into posts below their level and reporting staff whose skills exceed what their jobs require,’’ the survey said.
It further added that recruitment difficulties in both sectors ‘’are not only about skills supply as respondents often link them to how attractive the jobs are, and in the Public Sector also to employment terms.’’ It also pointed out that the skills that are hardest to find in both sectors, "and most often named as priorities for improvement, are transversal ones such as communication, teamwork, willingness to learn, time management, taking initiative, problem-solving and leadership."
The survey is available here.
(Source: CNA)
