Worrying shrinkage in October employment

Worries are growing over the course of the local labor market, as salaried employment fell by a considerable 82,810 jobs last month, hitting a 15-year low. And this during a period when six out of the every 10 jobs created belong to the flexible-labor categories.

According to the Labor Ministry’s Ergani database, the balance between hirings and departures in the first 10 months of the year remained positive, with a to- tal of 162,795 more jobs, which is the best performance recorded since 2001. However the steep decline seen in October, along with the ever growing trend in favor of part-time and other forms of flexible labor are generating concern at the ministry.

Ergani data showed that hirings amounted to 185,895 last month, while departures numbered 268,705, of which 78,337 were voluntary and 190,368 concerned contract terminations. This represents a considerable contraction, even though October is usually a month when job losses rise due to the end of the tourism season. Last month the loss of jobs was much higher than in October 2015 when the negative balance had come to 56,473 (i.e. over 26,000 fewer jobs lost than this year).

Out of the sum of new hirings recorded last month, the ministry announced on Thursday that 61.68 percent concerned parttime or shift work. Flexible labor was also dominant in the first 10 months of the year, accounting for 54.22 percent of new positions, while full-time employment concerned 45.78 percent of new jobs.