50+ Hiring Statistics Bulgaria: Key Insights and Trends

The Bulgarian labor market shows ongoing development through its lowest unemployment rates and rising wages and increasing need for trained workers. The country serves as a strategic location for IT outsourcing operations and shared service centers and EU-funded infrastructure development which will create high employment demand during 2025.​

Below are the most important hiring and employment statistics to understand Bulgaria’s job market in 2025. 

General Employment Statistics

1. 1. The unemployment rate in Bulgaria decreased to 3.6% during August 2025 from 4.0% during August 2024.​
   2. The employment rate for people between 15 and 64 years old reached 71.0% in 2025 which represents the highest point since the country started tracking this data.​
   3. Since 2014, Bulgaria has reduced unemployment from 11.8% to 3.6%—a nearly 70% improvement.​
   4. The youth unemployment rate reached 15.1% in August 2025 although it decreased from 15.8% in the previous month it remained above the national unemployment rate.​
   5. The working-age population of Bulgaria between 15 and 64 years old keeps decreasing because of both the aging population and people leaving the country.​
   6. The number of people working in the labor force has increased because women now make up 52% of the workforce and workers aged 55 and above have joined the labor market.​
   7. The total employed population consists of 2.38 million workers who were employed as of June 2025.

Job Openings & Demand Trends

8. 28% of employers in Bulgaria plan to hire new employees between October 2025 and March 2026.​
9. The job market requires 262,000 workers to fill essential positions during 2025 because 60,000 businesses intend to establish new employment opportunities.​
10. The breakdown of needed workers includes:
    1. 153,000 qualified specialists
    2. 59,300 specialists with higher education
    3. 50,000 workers without specialty​
11. Sofia drives national recruitment growth through its 65% hiring expansion while Plovdiv adds 17% more positions to its workforce. The cities of Varna and Burgas and Ruse show 8% hiring growth but their expansion rates remain below 8%.​
12. Online recruitment dominates: digital platforms receive more than 85% of job applications which AI matching technology shortens the hiring process by 20%.​
13. Job vacancy rate stands at 0.90% as of June 2025.​

Top Industries Hiring Statistics Bulgaria (2025)

Most In-Demand Positions

The most sought-after roles in Bulgaria for 2025 include:

14. Software Developers & Programmers (especially full-stack, Python, ML/AI specialists)
15. DevOps Engineers & System Administrators (highest-paying IT category)
16. Financial Analysts & Accountants (driven by fintech growth)
17. Engineers (Mechanical, Electrical, Civil—tied to manufacturing and infrastructure)
18. Healthcare Professionals (Nurses, Pharmacists, Technicians—aging population needs)
19. Cybersecurity Experts & Database Specialists
20. Sales & Customer Support Representatives (multilingual for international teams)
21. Builders & Construction Workers
22. AI Specialists & Data Scientists
23. Teachers & Educators​

Average Salary Statistics (2025)

Overall Salary Growth

24. The average gross monthly salary in Bulgaria reached 2,572 BGN (€1,315) in Q2 2025, up 12% year-over-year.​
25. Quarter-over-quarter growth was 5.3% from Q1 to Q2 2025.​
26. The average monthly wage was 2,547 BGN in June 2025.​
27. The Bulgarian government implemented a new minimum wage of 1,077 BGN per month which began on January 1, 2025 and represented a 19.6% rise from the previous year.​
28. Public sector wages experienced a 13.8% annual growth but private sector wages only increased by 11.4%.​

Related: Average Bulgarian salaries

Salaries by Industry

IT Sector Salaries (Net Monthly)

Bulgaria’s IT sector shows striking salary variations based on specialization:​

Workforce Demographics

Employment by Gender and Age (2025)

Bulgaria shows balanced gender distribution with notably strong older-age participation among women.​

Key Hiring Challenges

1. Critical Skills Shortage

29. The country of Bulgaria experiences severe talent deficits which affect its IT sector and engineering and healthcare industries.​
30. The educational system fails to meet industrial needs because technological sector requirements exceed what schools can deliver.​
31. Organizations use their resources to support upskilling programs and cross-training initiatives and university partnerships which help solve skill shortages.​
32. Organizations implemented remote and hybrid work models which grew by 30% to enable them to find candidates from wider geographic areas.​

2. Labor Market Tightness

33. The current unemployment rate of 3.6% has established an extremely competitive job market because employers actively seek skilled candidates.​
34. Employers are raising wages 8-12% annually to attract and retain talent.​
35. The number of available jobs in the market has dropped to less than 10,000 positions for the first time since multiple years ago because of labor shortages.​
36. The aging population combined with emigration has resulted in a decreasing number of working-age people which makes the existing workforce shortage more severe.​

3. Regional Disparities

37. North Central region and Sofia continue to dominate job postings, while rural areas struggle with limited opportunities.​
38. Wage gaps between Sofia and regional cities remain significant.​

Education & Employment Connection

39. The employment rate of Bulgarians who held tertiary education reached 88.5% in 2019 which exceeded the EU average of 84.7%.​
40. Workers with only lower secondary education have much lower employment rates (~38%).​
41. The Bulgarian labor market will need more workers with advanced qualifications because it will create more than half of its total available positions during 2030.​
42. Bulgaria works to develop STEM education and vocational training programs which match the requirements of upcoming job market needs.​
43. Organizations now prefer to accept certifications and digital-skills credentials instead of traditional academic degrees when hiring employees.​
44. The most sought-after skills include digital literacy and AI competencies and data analysis abilities and foreign language proficiency.​

Key Takeaways for 2025

45. The unemployment rate in Bulgaria currently stands at 3.6% which represents the most competitive labor market the country has ever experienced.​
46. The average monthly wage reached 2,500 BGN per month while showing a faster growth rate than the inflation rate.​
47. The IT sector leads all industries with a +23% hiring growth rate while providing top specialists with a net salary of 22,000 BGN.​
48. Employers predict they will add more staff through March 2026 because 28% of them plan to expand their teams which will require 262,000 new employees across different sectors.​
49. Sofia and Plovdiv lead the expansion of regional hiring activities because they show a 65% increase and 17% increase respectively.​
50. Organizations need to allocate funds for employee retention initiatives and training programs and flexible work options because they do not have enough qualified staff members.​
51. The knowledge-based economy transition in Bulgaria continues to speed up because EU financial support enables digital transformation and infrastructure development.​
52. The number of remote work positions expanded by 30% which helped solve talent distribution problems between different areas.​

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources (2024–2025)

• National Statistical Institute (NSI)
• World Bank Bulgaria Employment Data
• CEIC Data: Average Monthly Wages by Sector
• BTA News Agency
• Bulgarian National Radio (BNR)
• OECD Labour Market Review: Bulgaria
• EURES Bulgaria Labour Overview
• Novinite.com Wage Forecasts 2025