New Study: Labour Costs in CEE

16. December 2021 | Reading Time: 2 Min

Reading Time: 3 Min

TPA, together with the HR consulting firm Kienbaum, has published a study surveying labour costs in twelve selected countries in Southern and Central Europe.

The study entitled “Personnel costs as a factor when choosing a location” focuses on four groups of people:

  • Managers,
  • executives,
  • white-collar and
  • blue-collar workers.

Personnel costs as a factor when choosing a location

“Many of our clients operate internationally and deploy their workers across country borders. This led us to take a closer look at the issue of labour costs in comparison with many relevant Central and Eastern European countries”, says Klaus Bauer-Mitterlehner, Partner at TPA.

The tax advisor is responsible for the study together with Thomas Haneder, also a partner at TPA, and Wolfgang Höfle, TPA’s expert for wage and social insurance.

Wolfgang Höfle: “It pays for companies to take a close look, especially if they are posting employees or considering opening a new location.”

Thomas Haneder adds: “Nearshoring is the buzzword of the day – personnel costs play a decisive role here, along with other factors.”

What underpins the study: gross remuneration paid in Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia was used a basis to determine the total costs incurred by the employer and the net amounts received by the respective employee (at the end of the month).

Highlights of the new study: Personnel costs in CEE

Here are some highlights as regards personnel costs for employers:

  • Austria always ranks first by a wide margin in terms of total costs, thus having the highest personnel costs in all groups of persons.
  • This is followed by Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Slovakia for all groups of persons, all three being direct neighbours of Austria.
  • Poland, Croatia and Hungary are in the middle of the pack in terms of total costs.
  • Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Bulgaria have low total costs (their ranking varies depending on the group of persons).
  • Albania consistently has the lowest total costs for all groups of persons.

 

Download study here

Study Labour costs CEE TPA group