Business Association of Georgia (BAG) published a report. According to the document, in 2Q 2023, the surveyed businesses generally had a positive outlook regarding employment for the next three months. The BAG Employment Barometer amounted to 41.9 points, marking an improvement, both compared to the 2Q2022 (by 14.2 points) and 1Q2023 (by 7.9 points).
In Q2 of 2023, the BAG Employment Barometer was positive for all sectors. In Q2 of 2023, compared to Q1 of 2023, the employment barometer indicator improved in the trade (by 7.7 points), construction (by 13.0 points), manufacturing (by 20.5 points), and service (by 3.1 points) sectors (see graph 2).
In Q2 of 2023, compared to Q1 of 2023, the significant improvement of the employment barometer indicator in the manufacturing and construction sectors can be associated with optimistic expectations regarding the growth of sales in those sectors.
When examining employment, it is imperative to analyze the employee compensation dynamics in the process. The survey results revealed that 32% of companies raised their employees’ salaries in Q2 of 2023, which is potentially attributable to a lack of specialists and a labor shortage in Georgia. Indeed, many companies recognized these factors as hinderance for their business. Notably, in Q2 of 2023, 59% of surveyed companies identified a lack of specialists in the country as a hindering factor, while 41% pointed to a labor shortage.
Most surveyed companies (85% in Q2 of 2023), who increased the salaries of their employees, increased the salaries of their employees by 0-20%. Meanwhile, in Q2 of 2023, none of the surveyed companies increased the salaries of their employees by more than 60%.
By sector, in Q2 of 2023, the largest share of companies in the trade and construction sectors recorded an increase in the salaries of employees. In Q3 of 2023, the largest share of companies planning to increase the wages of employees was recorded in the construction sector (45%).
