Chad and Cheese’s 5 surprising insights from Europe’s labour market

The state of Europe’s labour market was the topic of conversation in a recent episode of the Chad & Cheese podcast. Which 5 surprising insights did the episode provide?

Jasper Spanjaart on September 22, 2022 Average reading time: 4 min
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Chad and Cheese’s 5 surprising insights from Europe’s labour market

Of the many podcasts within the world of HR and recruitment, the Chad & Cheese Show is likely the one you’ve heard of most — and for all the right reasons. Every week, Chad Sowash and Joel Cheesman cover the branche’s development, in their own, completely unique style. Recently the topic of conversation was European Talent Intelligence, by way of an interview with Intelligence Group founder Geert-Jan Waasdorp. Which 5 surprising European insights were mentioned?

#1. No tax for digital nomads

The number of digital nomads in the U.S. surged almost 50% to 11 million. Then in 2021, that number increased again to 15.5 million. And the popular destination for those doing the nomading? Europe. According to Intelligence Group’s extensive research, there are apparently countries in Europe where you have to pay little or no tax. “That means you can earn more for the same work”, Waasdorp said.

#2. There is good news about Europe

Europe is an ageing, over-regulated and polarised continent, fraught with immigration challenges and a war on the fringes? Yes, that’s the bad news. But those who dare to look further will also see a tech-driven, dynamic economy, filled with interesting start-ups, said Waasdorp.

#3. Don’t overestimate LinkedIn

Geert-Jan-Waasdorp
Geert-Jan Waasdorp

Within most English-speaking countries in Europe, we often think that LinkedIn and Indeed dominate the job market everywhere. But that’s not the case, according to recent research for which almost 100,000 (!) Europeans in 27 countries were surveyed. Each country has its own intricacies and is therefore different than its neighbour. This notion is perhaps best illustrated by the relatively few LinkedIn users in Poland, Hungary and Germany. In a nutshell: LinkedIn can hardly provide a decent picture of those respective labour markets.

LinkedIn has relatively few members in Germany.

Then onto Monster, which — much to the surprise of Sowash and Cheesman — still seems to hold a good position in Europe. “Monster always stands out in any list”, Sowash said. The high position of Infojobs, particularly popular in Spain and Italy, also comes as a surprise to the two hosts. Europe’s view on job boards is largely decided by local champions — which generally score highest in countries. Monster and Stepstone rank high because they are everywhere, albeit not the market leader. “It all adds up, but locally they’re not all that relevant”, Waasdorp added.

#4. Programmatic is still in its infancy

The data from Waasdorp’s research shows that there is therefore no such thing as one job board for all European vacancies. The market is quite fragmented, leading to the aforementioned different national champions that have emerged everywhere — partly due to government regulations. That is partly the reason why programmatic advertising is still not getting off the ground here, according to the podcast’s three voices. “It is difficult in Europe to collect enough data and information to feed the necessary algorithms”, said Waasdorp. “So there is actually little or no programmatic job advertising in Europe.’

“It is difficult in Europe to collect enough data for programmatic advertising.”

Although there is may be another reason, Waasdorp added. “The takeover of Appcast by publisher Axel Springer, the owner of StepStone, has shown that commercial interests also play a role. The turnovers of general job boards are apparently still too interesting to give programmatic a chance.”

#5. Larger pay gap in the North

The European survey among the 27 countries reveals another surprising insight. And that is that equal pay seems to be predominantly a discussion taking place in Northern European countries, while the pay gap between men and women is much smaller in Southern countries. “The South is a lot more emancipated than the North”, Waasdorp concluded. “In the Netherlands and Germany, they are always talking about how things should be. But they themselves don’t do a good job of ensuring equal pay is a real thing.’

Bulgaria, Romania and Estonia generally do a much better job of ensuring equal pay.

In fact, looking at Eastern European countries — the likes of Bulgaria, Romania and Estonia — they generally do a much better job of ensuring equal pay. “In those countries, women even earn more than men on average. And that is based on Eurostat data. So not even based on our surveys, but really based on millions of collected data.”

Want to read the secrets of Europe’s labour market?

Knowing the differences and intricacies of the European labour market will help you recruit more successfully across borders. Read all the secrets of Europe’s labour market in Intelligence Group’s newest report: the European Talent Intelligence Manual 2022. Download it for free by clicking on the image on the right. 

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Jasper Spanjaart

Jasper Spanjaart

Editor-in-Chief and Writer at ToTalent.eu
Editor-in-Chief and writer for European Total Talent Acquisition platform ToTalent.eu.
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