Abnormally high recruitment difficulties: Skills problem, declining labour supply, or problem with labour market rules?

We compare the countries in the euro zone, and we try to explain the now very high level of hiring difficulties in these countries. There are three possible explanations for the hiring difficulties: They result from a mismatch between skills and companies’ needs; They result from a decline in the labour supply (in hours or in people ); They occur because rules on unemployment benefits are not strict enough. A comparison of the situations of euro-zone countries shows that hiring difficulties are high: When working hours decline ; When employment growth is weak ( when job creation is difficult). Interestingly, rapid job growth is associated with low hiring difficulties.