February 2011 Index Highlights:


•The Monster Employment Index Europe continued its positive long-term growth, registering a 24 percent pace of annual growth in February

•Industrial production related sectors continued to lead the Index in long-term trends, with accelerated annual growth rates observed in Engineering, Research and development, and Production, manufacturing, maintenance, and repair

•Arts, entertainment, sports, leisure was the only sector to chart a year-on-year decline, measuring 20 percent

•Public sector, defence, community noted a slight improvement on the month following last month’s reductions

•Germany continued to lead the way in annual growth

“We’re continuing to see a positive trend in online recruitment activity in the long-term, with the rate of growth in industrial activity remaining a key driver of this, especially in Germany.” commented Alan Townsend, Vice President of Business Operations at Monster Europe. “While the continued cuts in government spending across public sectors are having an impact on recruitment levels in these sectors, the various indicators of growth within the private sector continue to show positive momentum.”

Summary Overview
The Monster Employment Index Europe continued its positive long-term growth pace, with February’s year-on-year gain of 24 percent nearly on par with January’s 25 percent rate, the most rapid pace seen during the current economic cycle.

Production, manufacturing, maintenance, repair continued to lead all sectors in the Index by measure of annual growth, registering 57 percent. Escalated recruitment for this sector has been most apparent in Germany, with additional growth charted in smaller markets, including countries in the Baltics and Eastern Europe. Transport, post and logistics also exhibited strong growth trends.

Arts, entertainment, sports, leisure was the only sector to register a significant annual decline in the Index. This mirrors trends seen last month in the public sector, where recent government cuts are impacting recruitment activity across the continent. While the public sector noted a small increase in activity on the month in February, it is still well below levels usually seen at this time of year.

The Monster Employment Index Europe is a monthly analysis of millions of online job opportunities culled from a large, representative selection of corporate career sites and job boards across Europe, including Monster.

Monster Employment Index Europe results for the past 13 months are as follows:

Feb-11 Jan-11 Dec-10 Nov-10 Oct-10 Sep-10 Aug-10 Jul-10 Jun-10 May-10 Apr-10 Mar-10 Feb-10
125 116 122 122 122 117 115 115 114 112 108 104 101

Engineering records robust growth on monthly and yearly basis

Online recruitment activity rose in 23 of the 24 industry sectors monitored by the Index between January and February; nearly all sectors had positive annual growth.

The proportionately small agriculture, fishing, forestry sector led the February Index in monthly gains with a rise of 19 points (21 percent). This can be attributed to a seasonal occurrence that typically carries over into March as sector employers prepare for more active spring months. Production, manufacturing, maintenance, repair meanwhile continued to lead all sectors in the Index by measure of annual growth (57 percent), closely followed by transport, post and logistics (55 percent).

Engineering rose more than average for the sector at this time of the year, with month-on-month gains of 13 points (ten percent). The longer-term view also showed the sector continuing to gain momentum, with annual growth accelerating to 38 percent, making it one of the fastest growth sectors in the Index. Research and development also exhibited positive growth of 15 percent which combined, reflect overall improvement for the economy’s technical segment.

Management and consulting held steady in February, with online recruitment levels flattening for a third consecutive month in the Index. This pause in the sector’s upward growth trajectory might suggest that while job creation rates in consultative services are robust, they have reached a plateau. Year-on-year, the sector is up seven percent.

Recruitment levels in arts, entertainment, sports, leisure continued a downward trend on the year and was the only sector to register an annual decline of 20 percent in the Index, suggesting resulting knock-on effects from recent government cuts.

Online job demand continued to exhibit positive growth across all occupations for the year
Each of the nine occupational groups monitored by the Index registered monthly gains in online job demand in February; demand was positive year-on-year for all groups.

Plant and machine operators, and assemblers exhibited annual growth of 62 percent in February, leading all occupational groups. This aligns with trends seen in the production, manufacturing, maintenance, repair sector; the group’s largest employer.

Craft and related trades workers was another star performer with annual growth at 54 percent, stemming from improved recruitment trends for skilled tradesmen within the production and construction sectors. Skilled agriculture and fishery workers also led occupational groups in monthly gain at 28 points (21 percent), mirroring trends seen in the relating industry sector.

Service workers and shop and market sales workers (37 percent), and legislators, senior officials and managers (nine percent) registered slight downshifts in annual growth rates. Nonetheless, demand remains substantially higher than it was a year ago in both occupational groups.