Just one in five workers in Croatia are satisfied with their current pay, while nearly half are actively considering changing jobs in the next six months, according to a survey published on Monday by employment portal MojPosao.
The survey, part of a broader international study on salary satisfaction, was conducted in February and March through the Paylab platform by Alma Career, an HR company operating across Central and Eastern Europe under brands including MojPosao.
The findings are based on responses from nearly 15,000 workers across nine countries: Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, North Macedonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia.
According to Jozef Plško, head of public relations at Alma Career Group, 27% of all respondents expressed satisfaction with their salary, while 56% said they felt underpaid. This sentiment was more pronounced in the Baltic and Balkan regions, whereas satisfaction levels were slightly higher in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Estonia.
In Croatia specifically, only 21% of respondents said they were satisfied with their salary—2% said they were completely satisfied and 19% mostly satisfied. Meanwhile, 41% reported dissatisfaction, including 16% who were extremely dissatisfied. The remaining 38% described themselves as neutral.
Gender disparities also emerged, with 24% of women in Croatia reporting satisfaction with their earnings, compared to 30% of men.
Salary perceptions worsened slightly compared to 2023, with a 3-point increase in respondents feeling underpaid and a 5-point drop in those who felt their compensation reflected their work.
In total, 89% of Croatian workers said they were considering a job change within six months. Of those, 45% said they were seriously considering it, and 44% said it was a possibility. Only 11% ruled out a job switch.
Croatians also expressed strong views on what kind of raise would improve their satisfaction: 38% said a pay increase of 11–20% would suffice, 37% would require a raise of 21–50%, and 16% said a 6–10% increase would be enough. Just 3% said they would only be satisfied with a doubling of their current income.
Across all surveyed countries, 77% of respondents indicated they were open to changing jobs in the near term, with job mobility intent highest in the Balkans, reaching up to 90%.