EUROPE'S MONSTER

The Monster Employment Index Europe has shown year-over-year growth in January. The Index gives a measure of online job demand, based on the opportunities available across a selection of career and job websites. While the growth figure may initially seem good, growth itself is down, scoring only nine percent in January compared with double figure growth throughout 2011. 

Across the countries included in the study, only Germany is maintaining strong annual growth – now at 30 per cent – while The Netherlands, Italy, Belgium and France all turned in negative growth figures over the first month of the new year.

Engineering, production, manufacturing, maintenance and repair are all enjoying high levels of growth – over 20 per cent – while management and consulting are down by 11 per cent. While this represents the steepest decline sector-wise, the market is also shrinking for the public sector, the arts and education opportunities.

Alan Townsend, Vice President of Sales Readiness and Business Operations for Monster Europe said: "As the challenging economic conditions continue, the Index confirms the trend of recent months with fewer online recruitment opportunities in January as employers maintain a cautious approach to hiring. However, while recruitment activity may have slowed from a general perspective, there are still pockets of demand for positions across industries such as production, telecommunication and transport, which are helping to maintain an overall positive growth track for Europe."