1/3 of the employers in our country make purposeful efforts to attract Bulgarians who studied or worked abroad

Guided by the common cause of returning Bulgarian talents to Bulgaria, the two-way study conducted by nPloy, Bulgaria Wants You, DNA and BSMEPA - the Executive Agency for Promotion of Small and Medium Enterprises, requested to improve communication between employers and qualified personnel, which are just entering the labor market in our country.

Both analyzes track the behavior of Bulgarian employers towards attracting talent, as well as the behavior of Bulgarian students studying in Bulgaria, but also those studying abroad, along with the motives for their choice and their attitudes to career development in Bulgaria.

"We believe that the point of view of young students, regardless of whether they graduate here or abroad, is indispensable for the development of our country, and even more so when business is in dire need of specialists in all sectors of the economy." the organizers add:

"We further investigated whether companies have a strategy for attracting and retaining valuable staff, whether they are adaptable and what they are willing to do to develop their employer brand in order to be relevant to the dynamic times in which we live."

The analysis shows that 89% of employers have difficulty in recruiting. The biggest challenges facing them are the lack of qualified staff in specific regions of the country, as well as the lack of technical skills and qualifications.

At the same time, 56% of the surveyed Bulgarian students abroad stated that in Bulgaria there are no opportunities for work and career growth (63%), which is the main reason why they do not want to return home after completing their education.

1/3 of the companies admit that they make purposeful efforts to attract specialists who have studied or worked abroad, as the share of companies operating only on the Bulgarian market drops to less than 1/4. However, employers who invest in the Employer Branding strategy make more than average efforts (40%) to attract talent from abroad.

In addition, students abroad say en masse that they cannot assess whether their pay expectations are met by Bulgarian employers.

"This leads us to the conclusion that it would be good for both parties to have the pay, or at least the pay range, clearly communicated in job advertisements and traineeships, even before the EU regulation comes into force," commented the platforms for job search and career development. The surveys were attended by 270 companies from different sectors operating in the Bulgarian market, as well as 1,200 students studying a variety of specialties here and abroad.