Webinar recap: Race for talent in the Croatian job market
The Croatian market likes to go through major changes, but companies are forced to adapt their strategies to remain competitive in the fight for the best talent.
HR trends were the main topic at the recent webinar Race for talent: Croatian companies are increasing salaries to retain workers, where Manpower consultants Tirena Leinert Novosel (Head of Permanent Placement) and Karlo Vrbanac (HR consultant) presented the most important insights from the SATR H1 2025 Salary Trends and Employment Trends survey.
Insights from the SATR H1 2025 survey (Salary and employment trends)
The purpose of the research "Salary and employment trends, H1 2025" was to check the forecasts of Croatian employers on salary and employment trends for the first half of 2025. The survey is conducted by Manpower Croatia and is repeated every six months.
The survey behind SATR is sent to employers throughout Croatia, but the combination of open and closed surveys enables the collection of concrete data. The results of the research help companies to better understand the current challenges and opportunities in the job market, which makes it easier for them to make better and more informed decisions.
The webinar was held on the 20th of February 2025. where we presented the most important insights from the SATR H1 2025 research and gave additional advice to the atendees. Find out the most important conclusions of the webinar below.
Employers' plans regarding the intention of employment
According to the research, 60.76% of Croatian employers plan to hire more than fire in the first half of 2025, while 20.16% do not plan to change their employment.
Source: Salary and employment trends H1 2025, SATR CROATIA
Top 4 industries where employers are at the forefront of employee increase plans:
Transport and logistics
Tourism and hospitality
Manufacturing sector
Construction
Do employers plan to hire foreign workers?
The trend of employing workers from abroad is also on the rise. 66.67% of employers who plan to employ foreign workers will focus on workers from third countries, including countries in Asia, Africa, and countries that are not members of the EU and the EEA.
While other employers who plan to hire workers from abroad will hire from the countries of the Adriatic region, or other countries in the EU or EEA.
Want a free SATR H1 2025 report? Fill out the form and receive an overview of the employment forecast and salary trends by e-mail.
Employee turnover in 2024
Last year, the Croatian market was shaped by the specificities of different industries, which were accompanied by different rates of employee turnover.
The highest fluctuations were recorded in several industries: research, media, marketing and PR services (31.14%), telecommunications, electronics and electrical engineering (23.44%), and tourism and hospitality (22.1%).
Also, high fluctuation was observed in banking, finance and insurance (20.37%), while industries such as construction, accounting and HR services had a fluctuation of more than 16%. On the other hand, industries such as transport and logistics (11.18%) and healthcare and pharmaceuticals (11.57%) had the lowest turnover rates.
Regarding the recruitment challenge, we asked employers whether they had problems recruiting new staff in the past year, to which even more than half answered employers answered in the affirmative.
Source: Salary and employment trends H1 2025, SATR CROATIA
Salary forecasts on the rise, or what actually drives them?
Employers in Croatia are increasing wages, but the SATR H1 2025 survey confirms that this trend will continue in the first half of 2025. As many as 34.77% of companies plan increases between 6 and 10%, while 28% announce growth of up to 5%. Well, what were the reasons behind the salary changes?
When we asked Croatian employers about their plans, we discovered that for H1 2025:
1. More than 65% of employers end the salary change in order to retain existing employees
2. 61.03% of employers are changing salaries due to rising inflation
3. 38.03% of employers end rewarding the individual results of the employee as a reason for salary changes
Less pay for more flexibility?
One of the most interesting data we witnessed on the webinar comes from the regional research Facts.Facts.Facts... conducted by Manpower Hrvatska and MPlus for last year's HR.WEEKEND conference. A sample of 1,850 respondents showed that more than 53% of employees would agree to a smaller financial package in exchange for greater flexibility at work.
This clearly shows that workers no longer look only at the paycheck - quality of life, telecommuting and the balance between private and business life are becoming key factors of satisfaction.
What can employers learn from these trends?
The race for talent is not only driven by salary increases, but also by adapting working conditions to employee expectations.
In order to remain competitive, Croatian employers must redefine their HR strategies. Pay increases obviously play an important role, aren't they the only way to attract and retain talent.
Flexible working models, better benefits and investing in employee development can ensure a stable and motivated team in the long term.
Salary increases are certainly an important step, if flexibility and the quality of the work environment become equally crucial factors in the race for talent.
