Youth Employment in Macedonia - The Current Situation and Efforts for its Improvement
Youth Employment in Macedonia - The Current Situation and Efforts for its Improvement

Summary/Abstract: This article explores the current situation with employment in Macedonia in general, and the situation with youth employment in particular, with special emphasis on the efforts by the Government for its improvement. After several years of continuous growth of the unemployment rate, versus the decrease of the employment rate, the situatwn started to change at the end of 2005, keeping this trend throughout 2006. The following issues are observed as the main reasons for youth unemployment: mismatch between the labour market needs and the educational and training system; specific employers' needs for people with working experience; massive upsurge of grey economy. As a direct consequer:cce of long-term unemployment, particularly of young unemployed people with high education, approximately 15,000 young people moved abroad in the period of transition, in order to seek better opportunities or life in general; a phenomenon well known as brain drain. The highest priority of the Government of Macedonia is economic growth, aod one of the obstacles on the path to achieving it is youth unemployment. Hence, youth employment is included in all relevant national strategic documents, and the situation is planned to be improved through training and education, as the formal education does not fully match the labour market needs, as well as stimulating entrepreneurship among the young. In addition to the Government's own initiatives and programmes, the process of coping with youth unemployment is also supported by the international donor community, through implementation of various projects aiming to raise youth employability. The civic sector also supports this process, mainly through implementation of projects focusing on additional training, but also through enabling the young to volunteer in the civil society organizations, through which they would strengthen their skills, and would gain working experience, required by the employers. Even though the ftrst results from the initiatives undertaken to improve the situation with youth employment are evident; the serious approach to this problem by the Government, international donor community, as well as the civic sector has to continue, and a lot of time has to pass in order to solve the most important problem in the country.

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