Malta, April 2014Marija Bugarčić, member RB BOFOSJoza Pakledinac, member RB BOFOS

Youth in Serbia

• Youth: - Fulfillment of their aspirations- Gaining economic independence- Finding a place in societyThe first reaction in Serbia is "It is hard to find a job for a young person "

- The unemployment rate for people between the ages of 15 and 19: 62.2%

- The unemployment rate for people between the ages of 20 and 24 : 48.8%

- The unemployment rate for people between the ages of 25 and 29 : 35.6%

- In the EU, the unemployment rate for people between the ages of 15 and 24 is about 16%

• According to the analysis carried out by Serbian Association of Employers SAE:– One of the biggest reasons for such state of affairs - is a

problem of the education system uncoordinated with real needs of economy.

– Analysis of the situation in Serbia carried out by SAE includes the following trades:

– Finance – Construction– Commerce– Other– The other trades make only 8% and this can lead to a single

conclusion that at the moment in Serbia production has been reduced to a minimum what can be one of the reasons why young people are unemployed.

• According to SAE layoffs in Serbia - in the state and the public sector - has a significant impact on the percentage of unemployed youth.

• The relation between the employed, unemployed and inactive people according to education level is shown in the following diagram:

• The following diagram presents unemployment by gender and age.

• According to data shown in the diagram it is easy to notice that unemployment is the biggest problem for youth aged between 20 and 29.

• Among employers covered by the research a number of those planning new employment was 40%; 54% have no such plans; 6% of those interviewed did not answer this question.

• Although it could be concluded that problem is in the education system, such a conclusion could be adopted only if the production part of the economy was more developed.

• In order to solve the problem, the National Parliament of the Republic of Serbia adopted the Law on Youth on July 5, 2011.

• The Law on Youth prescribes the possibility of youth offices opening, possibility but not an obligation for the local self-administration to open youth offices.

• Formally, there are 142 youth offices in Serbia but in reality there are only 36.

• Article No 6 of the Law on Youth prescribes equal opportunities principle and that poses a question whether a young person living in the provinces of Serbia, in a small municipality, has the same opportunities as his age mate in Belgrade.

• According to surveys, one in three young persons wants to leave Serbia.

• According to the National Statistics Institute data, a number of the employed has been falling almost each year in period 2001 to 2013.

Total legal entities private entrepreneurs

Total Women Total Women Total WomenNumber of emloyed- total, yearly average Republic of Serbia

2001 2101668 900562 1752226 754714 349442 145848

2002 2066721 893740 1676835 728536 389886 165204

2003 2041395 886526 1611632 703565 429763 182961

2004 2050854 889851 1580140 687064 470714 202787

2005 2068964 900401 1546471 673462 522493 226939

2006 2025627 872908 1471750 636244 553877 236664

2007 2002344 868129 1432851 626137 569494 241992

2008 1999476 873648 1428457 630909 571019 242739

2009 1889085 837643 1396792 628252 492293 209391

2010 1795775 805256 1354637 619355 441138 185901

2011 1746138 800688 1342892 624218 403246 176471

2012 1727048 796993 1341114 626109 385934 170884

2013 1715164 792416 1338082 626104 377081 166312

• This is a line chart / based on the table/ from which it is easier to perceive events.

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 20130

500000

1000000

1500000

2000000

2500000

Series1

• From 2001 to 2009, there was no significant change in the number of employees, but from 2009 to 2013 we can see a noticeable decrease in the number of employees. In total, from 2001 to 2013 - around 390,000 people lost their jobs.

BOFOS YOUNG MEMBERSBOFOS young members talking about the trade union!