The launch of production at the new Nokia plant, over 20 new malls and the continued expansion of major retail networks are the major events set to mark the labour force market over the coming year.

The constructions sector remains in pole position and requires at least 50,000 employees for projects in 2008. Many domestic construction firms have already started to import labour due to the current personnel shortage. Networks that specialise in construction materials are also expected to hire additional staff this year.

Retail will recruit 40,000 people, with more than 20 proposed malls set to open this year. Given that the average number of mall employees stands at 1,500, the total number of new recruits could reach 30,000 by yearend, which includes recruitment for retail networks already established within shopping centres.

The carmaker Automobile Dacia, which derived an estimated turnover worth over 2 billion euros last year, announced it would hire a further 3,000 individuals at its assembly plant, as well as 600 university graduates for its administrative departments in a bid to hit the production target of 400,000 cars for 2009, which was revised from 350,000 units.

The total number of employees who work in the domestic car industry revolves around 300,000, according to APIA deputy chairman Brent Valmar, of whom 10% work for importers' dealership networks.

In terms of banks, the rate at which new personnel is recruited is likely to slow down this year against last year, when over 7,000 people joined banks present on the market, according to NBR data. Around 1,000 new banking branches were opened in 2007, which is unlikely to be repeated this year.

However, recruitment may come from Millennium Portuguese bank, whose development strategy entails an increase in the number of branches to 100 over the next two years. Raiffeisen