The Research Institute of Labor and Social Protection released a report on last year’s academic works and introduced labor trends for 2018 on Wednesday. The institute reported that there was a shortage of 10,900 professional employees in the labor market last year, especially in factories and companies engaged in construction, and wholesale and retail industries. The institute expects the availability of jobs to go up by 5.5 percent this year, creating a minimum of 74,600 new jobs this year. Out of 74,600 new jobs, 57,000 (76.4 percent) will become available in the first half of 2018, and 17,600 (23.6 percent) in the second half. A multiple choice question in a survey for labor demand conducted among job seekers, 71.5 percent want permanent jobs, 65.3 percent want new jobs, and 34.7 percent want a flexible side job. The demand for employees will be highest in construction, wholesome and retail industries, while the demand will be lowest in companies engaged in finance, insurance and real estate. Estimations show that 18,600 new jobs will be created in the construction sector and 15,200 jobs in wholesale and retail industries.