Skopje, 27 November 2024 (MIA) - While the Ministry of Economy and Labor is in the process of developing a systematic approach to match the supply and demand of labor on the domestic market, the Federation of Trade Unions said the lack of workers was a result of low wages and abuses by Economic Chamber employers, at International Labour Organization conference held Wednesday to present a study on tackling the insufficient labor force problem.

"On the one hand, North Macedonia is facing high unemployment rates, and on the other, more employers are reporting problems with finding and retaining workers," said Minister of Economy and Labor Besar Durmishi.

According to the Minister, ILO's study provides an in-depth look at the problem and a roadmap for its solution.

"More and more countries in Europe, including North Macedonia, are facing labor shortages," he said, adding that the Ministry of Economy and Labor would develop policies to address the domestic labor shortage. He stressed that the operational employment plan for next year would amount to EUR 6 million, which is more than this year's Budget.

"In the coming period, we will focus on developing and implementing a systematic approach to deal with the of labor supply and demand in the domestic labor market and overcoming this serious issue that plagues our country.

"We will try to support the companies' need of a qualified workforce by implementing active employment programs and by maintaining annual operational plans for active programs in this direction," said Durmishi.

Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia leader Slobodan Trendafilov and ILO Office for Central and Eastern Europe Director Claire Harasty also took part in the conference.

Trendafilov pointed out that the labor shortage in the country was the result of low wages and abuses by Economic Chamber employers.

"Let's not forget there is a labor shortage in Macedonia because of the low wages and abuses by Economic Chamber employers who have been doing this for more than 34 years. Due to the low wages, workers are leaving Macedonia for other countries and are helping build other economies, which I believe should be the greatest defeat to such employers. As a reminder, we are so productive that we helped amass capital and wealth, while they stole companies in the past, kept them for themselves... If employees receive miserable pay, expect that they will use that money to buy a one-way ticket and leave Macedonia," Trendafilov stressed.

Harasty said the study discussed three main areas: including the untapped labor force, increasing productivity by larger investments into education policies and better working conditions, and workforce migration in certain sectors.

"We need to use the untapped labor force, so that those who are still inactive on the labor market can get employed. This includes women with childcare responsibilities, young unemployed people, disabled people, and a large number of older workers that are not eligible for employment, but could still be part of the labor market. The second policy area to consider is to increase productivity by investing in education and skills policies, and improving working conditions to deal with these inconsistencies. And the third area that could be part of the solution is labor migration for selected sectors, selected professions, well-regulated and orderly migration with fair recruitment practices," Harasty said. ssh/mr