Skopje, 17 May 2023 (MIA) – The outflow of workers from the country is a consequence of the wrong policies that were conducted in the past, said Deputy PM for Economic Affairs, Fatmir Bytyqi, adding that all employers should realize that they must pay workers decently in order to keep them in their jobs. 

"I believe that consistent policies produce results. When you have a period of attracting foreign investments in which work force is sold as cheap labor force, the consequence of such wrong policies is the current situation, which is that citizens do not believe that well-paid jobs can be created in our country. Our policy from 2017 onwards is consistent, i.e. every job that will be opened by foreign and domestic companies, and is to receive support from the Government, must be a decently paid job," Bytyqi said in response to a reporter's question ahead of Wednesday's Macedonian-Finnish business forum organized by the Economic Chamber of North Macedonia. 

He pointed out that the laws say support can only be obtained if the wage is over 50 percent more than the minimum wage, which would be somewhere around the average wage in the country.

"Only such consistent policies will make our people believe and restore confidence that decent jobs are being created in our country, and of course the trend of migration will drop. Unfortunately, we are now paying the consequences for the policies and decisions that some of my predecessors made for our country years ago, decades ago," said Bytyqi. 

He pointed out that the unemployment rate in the country is still high. 

"According to the latest data from the State Statistical Office and the Employment Agency, the unemployment rate is somewhere around 13.7 percent. That's a high unemployment rate. The long-term solution is for our people to retrain and accept decent jobs. It makes me happy that sometimes certain developments happen unnaturally, like migration, but they make the private sector pay more decent wages than they did before. That's why I believe that every flow or development at a certain time happens for a reason, and the reason here is that everyone, the private sector as well, will have to understand that there are no more workers that you can pay below the dignity of the worker because there will always be other options," said Bytyqi. 

Photo: MIA