Nearly 14,000 vacancies remain open in Cyprus amid 8,000 unemployed

Cyprus’s labor market is facing a serious structural imbalance: the number of open vacancies is almost twice as high as the number of officially registered unemployed. According to the latest data from the statistical service, about 14,000 jobs remain unfilled in the country, while only around 8,000 people are registered as unemployed. The most acute labor shortages are in tourism, food service, retail and construction.

Experts explain this paradox by the mismatch between job seekers’ qualifications and employers’ requirements, as well as local residents’ reluctance to take low-paid jobs with difficult working conditions. Most unemployed people have higher education and are looking for office jobs in white-collar roles, while the market needs frontline staff and blue-collar workers. The situation is forcing businesses to more actively attract labor from third countries to cover staffing shortages during the peak summer season.

Cyprus’s Ministry of Labour is trying to address the problem through retraining programs and subsidies for jobs for local youth. However, representatives of business associations say these measures are insufficient and are calling for easier procedures for issuing work permits to foreign specialists. Otherwise, the labor shortage will continue to restrain economic growth and worsen service quality in key sectors.