As part of the labor market survey 2025/2026, which is carried out annually by the Federal Institute and cantonal employment services, at the end of 2025, a survey of a representative sample of employers from the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina with five or more employees was organized.
According to the size, the most respondents were micro employers (50 percent), followed by small (34 percent), medium (12 percent) and large employers (four percent), which is in line with the structure of the economy.
Out of a total of 1,299 successfully surveyed, 822 employers (63 percent) expressed the need to hire 6,016 new workers in 2026, which is seven percent more compared to last year’s survey.
Employers from the processing industry (39 percent), followed by trade (20 percent), construction (10 percent), catering (nine percent), etc., expressed the greatest estimated need for hiring workers in 2026.
According to professional qualifications, employers expressed the greatest need for workers with a third-level secondary vocational qualification (KV), namely 67 percent. This is followed by the demand for workers with secondary vocational education level IV (SSS) 20 percent, and for workers with higher vocational education (VSS) seven percent.
According to the results of the survey, the most sought-after occupations of III and IV levels of secondary education in 2026 will be: salesperson, call center operator, tailor, truck driver, waiter, locksmith, tailor, storekeeper, cook, welder, carpenter, mechanical technician, CNC operator, carpenter, bricklayer, administrative worker, armourer, etc. There is also a great demand for auxiliary workers in production.
For professions with university education, according to employers’ forecasts, the greatest demand will be for workers from the IT sector (electrical engineers, system engineers, programmers – IT developers, etc.), followed by economists, mechanical engineers, and masters of pharmacy and civil engineers.
70 percent of surveyed employers predicted an increase in wages for workers in the next year, but up to a maximum of 10 percent.
The need for additional training of workers in 2026 in accordance with their plans to introduce new technologies and changes in the work process was stated by 27 percent of those surveyed, which is 4.3 percent more than in 2025, mostly from the Industrial Activities group. The above-mentioned employers have the greatest need for organizing training for specific tasks that would be carried out within the employer’s workplace.
The survey showed that surveyed employers most often look for new employees through personal contacts, then by using the services of public employment services, and by using social networks, the Federal Employment Agency announced.
