HR roles among fastest growing jobs in Europe

The pandemic has transformed the world of work forever. It has pushed HR teams into the spotlight as they grappled with how to keep employees safe while working from home.

Employee experience and wellbeing have rocketed up the workplace agenda, and the buck usually stops with the HR department to figure out how best to support workers.

Therefore, it is no surprise that HR jobs are some of the fastest growing across Europe.

Research by LinkedIn found that talent acquisition specialist was in the top 20 jobs in France, Germany and the UK.

Other HR jobs growing in those three European markets are recruitment officer (16 in France), CHRO (5 in the UK), payroll consultant (19 in Germany) and diversity and inclusion manager (13 in the UK0.

Talking about these findings, head of LinkedIn UK Janine Chamberlin commented: ““After another tumultuous year for businesses, it’s no surprise that HR and Talent professionals are in high demand.

“People in these roles are playing a crucial part in helping businesses adapt to a new world of work and changing employee priorities and expectations.”

Europe and the ‘Great Resignation’

While much of the coverage of the ‘Big Quit’ focuses on the US market, it is clear that the UK and the rest of the Europe is also suffering through a retention crisis.

In fact, global research by LinkedIn founded that Europe saw 20% more cuts between August and October 2021 than the same period in 2019. This was only slightly lower than the figure for the US: 28%.

A LinkedIn survey of 9,000 European workers from December found that this ‘Great Resignation’ trend is likely to continue.

58% said they were considering changing roles this year; this rose to 64% in Sweden and 67% in the UK. Their reasons included improved salary and work life balance.

This is confirmed by LinkedIn analysis of job postings on its platform. There was an 83% increase in posts mentioning flexible working and 35% more engagement with these jobs, compared to 2019.

LinkedIn also found a 147% increase in job posts mentioning wellbeing and 5% more engagement than in 2019.

Interestingly, LinkedIn data showed that workers are becoming more choosy about their future job. They are viewing twice as many jobs before applying as in 2019.

LinkedIn managing director of EMEA and vice-president Josh Graff noted: “We’ve seen huge disruption to labor markets over the last two years and that looks set to continue in 2022 – with an astonishing 58% of workers across Europe saying they’re considering changing jobs this year.

“LinkedIn’s data shows that candidates are spending even more time looking at roles before applying. Meeting expectations on workplace flexibility, and focusing on employee wellbeing and company culture are critical factors for businesses looking to secure top talent.

Never has there been a better time for companies, and particularly HR teams, to step up and do better by their employees.

Employers that successfully reimagine how works get done will swim and thrive in the ongoing labor disruption, and those that continue on the same old path will sink.