Territorial audit
Vranje municipality
1. General information about municipality
The city of Vranje is located in the southern part of Serbia and covers an area of 860 km2. Together with the municipality of Vranjska Banja and 108 surrounding settlements, it forms the administrative territory of the City of Vranje. Vranje is the administrative centre of the Pčinja District, located on the Pan-European Corridor X, close to the borders with Macedonia and Bulgaria. In terms of the development1 City of Vranje belongs to the second group of cities/municipalities according to a classification developed by the Serbian government. Municipalities in the second group are at 80-100% from republic level with regards to the level of development. It should be however noted that the entire region of South Serbia is characterised as underdeveloped, as most municipalities around Vranje belong to the underdeveloped/devastated category of municipalities (Bosilegrad, Trgovište, Preševo, Bujanovac, etc.) with the level of development that is below 60% of the national level.
When the level of salaries is compared with the rest of Serbia Vranje lags behind. While the national gross average is RSD 67,857, in Vranje average is RSD 53,878 (net average is RSD 38,695 which is approximately EUR 322).
While during sixties Vranje was a prosperous city that offered many employment opportunities in several large factories that produced and exported goods to the entire territory of former Yugoslavia, during nineties, most of these factories lost the market, went bankrupt or significantly decreased the number of employees.
Currently, there are more than 2,000 companies that operate in Vranje and statistics indicate that certain recovery in terms of business activity can be noted. The dominant economic sectors are wood processing, clothing, footwear and furniture production and demand for the workforce is obvious. On the other hand, failed privatisation processes are still affecting the economy as once large companies are dismissing people (example Zavarivac, Javor, etc.). It, therefore, comes as no surprise that many of officially registered job seekers are in the older age group (50+), belonging to the category of redundant
1 The Government of Serbia adopted the Regulation by which all cities/municipalities in Serbia are categorised in 4 groups according to the level of development. Several criteria are used for categorisation including average salaries etc. 1 workers. Another, equally challenging issues remain the quality of the labour force as well as the quality of the employment offered.
2. Demographic data
Vranje has 83,524 inhabitants. As a result of wars that occurred in the territory of former Yugoslavia, a large number of refugees and internally displaced from Kosovo has populated Vranje. Despite the influx, as indicated in the table below, migrations from Vranje are still higher than immigration, as every year approximately 1,000 people leave Vranje, while 786 settles in. Vranje has a significant number of returnees that returned to Serbia under the Readmission agreements that Serbia signed with some European countries. Estimated number of returnees in Vranje is around 100, and most of them belong to Roma minority.
Table1: Number of inhabitants from 1981 to 2011 Administra % % tive Urban population Rural population No of Year territory of settlements in urban areas in rural households the City of settlements areas Vranje 1981 82,527 44,094 53.43 38,433 46.57 12,256 1991 85,591 51,215 59.84 34,376 40.16 16,516 2002 87,288 55052 63.07 32,236 36.93 26,799 2011 83,524 60,485 72.42 23,039 27.58 25,839 Source: Sustainable development strategy of the City of Vranje 2010 – 2019
When looking at the age of people residing in Vranje, the largest group is from 18-64 (65%) followed by the age group 0-17 (19%). This indicates that Vranje is in a bit better situation than the rest of Serbia which faces the problem of ageing population. Other characteristics of the population in terms of age structure are provided in the table below.
Table 2: Population by age group, by gender, 2015
Age Women Men Children up to 6 years of age 2,641 2,841 (pre-school age) Children from 7─14 years of 3,419 3,631 age (elementary school children) Children 15─18 years of age 1,853 1,983 (secondary school children) Children (0─17 years of age) 7,444 7,943 Youth (15─29 years of age) 7,434 7,974 Working age population 27,398 28,676 (15─64 years of age)
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Apart from Serbs that constitute a majority, there is a significant number of Roma (2,750 or 4.99%) residing in Vranje. Most Roma live concentrated, in several settlements that are located in Vranje.
Graph1: Ethnical structure of the population in Vranje in %
1.74 0.31 0.71 5.57
Срби Роми Бугари Македонци Остали
91.67 Source: Republic Statistical Office, Census data 2011
3. Labour market data
3.1. Labour force
The labour market in Vranje is characterised by low level of activity, unfavourable education/qualification structure of the unemployed and the mismatch between supply and demand of skilled labour.
According to 2011?? Census data, City of Vranje has 34,579 economically active people who constitute 41.4% of the total population. Over 58% are inactive.
Table 3: Overview of economically active/inactive population in Vranje Economically active Population Economically inactive Employed Unemployed City of 83,524 24,915 9,664 48,940 Vranje Source: Republic Statistical Office, Census Data
In Serbia, the unemployment rate is not available for the level of the municipality so only official data that can be used to illustrate unemployment are data provided by the National Employment Service Local Branch office on the number of registered job seekers (around 7,000 in May 2017). It should be noted though that the unemployment rate for
3 the region of Southern and Eastern Serbia, to which Vranje belongs, is traditionally high when compared to the national unemployment rate. According to labour market statistics that are available for the Southern and Eastern region, the unemployment rate is 14.2% while at the national level unemployment rate stands at 13.8%2. The unemployment rate for young people from 19-24 years of age is highest in this region, reaching 32% while for comparison in Vojvodina region youth unemployment rate is 24.5%.
3.2. Social and human resources development
The low education level of the working age population is the most significant challenge when talking about human capital in Vranje. Lack of qualifications is frequently accompanied by inactivity and/or long-term unemployment as it will be shown in the later section.
The second group of challenges includes poor quality and low relevance of all levels of education, resulting in insufficiently developed competencies of the workforce.
In addition, secondary education is not adapted to the needs of the economy and the educational system does not enable young people to acquire practical skills that are relevant in the labour market. For example, Vranje has about 10 shoe producing businesses that employ over 100 people each but does not have a VET school that offers education relevant for this economic sector. In previous times when Koštana, large shoe making factory that employed around 3,000 people operated, there were adequate educational profiles that supplied qualified workforce, which is now about to retire. With no educational profile that can supply the qualified workforce for the existing business individual employers are forced to find the way to train people on the workplaces.
The third group of challenges includes low coverage by quality education, particularly concerning children from vulnerable groups (Roma, returnees, and children from low- income families, children with disabilities and children living in rural areas). Roma children are particularly affected as most of them complete only primary education and face significant difficulties in finding employment both due to lack of qualification and discrimination.
2 Republic Statistical Office, Labour Force Survey data for 2016 4
3.3. Employment statistics
When observing the period from 2010 to 2017, the number of employed in Vranje had its peak in 2012, while in the subsequent years this number started decreasing, dropping from 22,444 in 2014 to 20,906 people employed in 2015.
The highest number of people is working in processing industry (7,453), followed by trade and vehicle repair (2,725) and public administration (1,545) while the rest is employed in other fields. However, it is worth noting that informal employment is quite high so the presented figures related to employment do not catch a significant portion of employment. Having in mind that informal employment is estimated at 22% at the national level it is very likely that similar situation is in Vranje.
Graph 2. Number of employed in Vranje from 2010 – 2015
3.4. Unemployment statistics
At the registry of the National Employment Service (NES) - branch office Vranje, at the end of May 2017 there were 7,724 unemployed people, of which 3,941 women (51%). When comparing unemployment data from December 2016, the slight decrease in registered unemployment can be noted (7,896 registered unemployed in December 2016).
The graph below shows the number of unemployed from 2010 until 2016
Graph 3. Number of unemployed in Vranje from 2010 – 2016
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9200 9000 8800 8600 8400 8200 8000 Number of unemployed 7800 7600 7400 7200
7000
Jun-14 Jun-11 Jun-12 Jun-13 Jun-15 Jun-16
Dec-14 Dec-11 Dec-12 Dec-13 Dec-15 Dec-10 Note: Data in the table are capturing only those that registered with NES while the actual number of unemployed is higher
The most prevalent problem in the City of Vranje is the unfavourable educational structure of the unemployed, most of which have no or low levels of education/qualification, combined with worryingly long unemployment spells. According to NES representatives, one of the challenges is a mismatch between labour demand and labour supply in relation to skills and competencies that employers require.
Amongst the unemployed registered with NES, prevalent are those with IV level of Commented [V1]: Equivalent to? education (2,126), followed by unemployed with I level, that make 1,896 at the registry Commented [V2]: Equivalent to? of NES. Relatively high number of unemployed is also recorded among unemployed that have faculty degree (VII1 level). When this group is looked closely a large number of unemployed is coming from the following occupations: lawyers, doctors, teachers and economists.
The table below shows the educational level of unemployed in Vranje that are at the registry of NES.
Table 4: Unemployed by level of education in Vranje, November 2016 Level of education May 2016 I 1,896 II 600 III 1,575 IV 2,126 V 32 VI-1 388 VI-2 258 VII-1 841
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VII-2 8 VIII 0 TOTAL 7,724 Source: NES BO Vranje
Analysis of the unemployed by age group shows that unemployed over 50 years of age are the largest group, as they make 26.1% at the NES registry (2,017 people), followed by youth (15-29) that makes 23.9% (1,849 people).
Another prevalent problem is the duration of unemployment spell. Data show that over 58.3% of the unemployed in Vranje (4,508), belong to the category of hard to employ as they have been looking for work for more than 12 months. When data on unemployment spell are cross referenced with the target groups, it is shown that workers that are over 50 years of age followed by an extended youth group (15-29) are the most affected. Most of the unemployed have been looking for work from 1-2 years.
Unemployed with the lowest level of education (I) are most numerous category (1,138) at the NES registry, followed by unemployed with the IV level of education (1,158). This can be an indication of low labour demand (the supply of workers seeking a job exceeds the demand of enterprises) as the later data will show the most job that is expected to be created will demand low skilled workers. Long unemployment spells in that regard can also be caused by low demand for workers, which results in de-motivation and reduced job search activity.
3.5. Disadvantaged groups and their characteristics
When it comes to disadvantaged groups and their characteristics, Vranje is no different from most municipalities in Serbia.
The most disadvantaged, according to labour market data provided by NES BO Vranje are long term unemployed, people over 50 years of age and young people, as the share of these groups in NES registry, is over 20%.
The table below provides detailed data on disadvantaged groups.
Table 5: Hard to employ groups registered with NES Category of hard to employ No of registered with Share at NES registry in NES % Long-term unemployed 4,508 58.4 Over 50 years of age 2,017 26.1 Young people (up to 30 years) 1,849 23.9 Both parents unemployed 1,402 18.2
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Redundant workers 1,398 18.1 Roma 762 9.9 Single parents 377 4.9 Persons with disabilities 259 3.3 Returnees 9 0.1 Victims of domestic violence 5 / Children in foster families 1 / Source: NES BO
Long-term unemployed – make 58.4% at the registry of NES and most of them, meaning over 80% have no/low of qualifications (from I to IV level).
Unemployed over 50 years of age - make 26.1% of the unemployed registered with NES. Most of them have low educational attainment (from the I to IV level of education) while 67.8% falls into the category of long-term unemployed.
Young people (15-29) make up 23.9% at NES registry, and the analysis of data shows that among youth the most disadvantaged group are those with low/no qualification (IV level) while the number of young unemployed drops with the level of education. However, it is worth noting the relatively high number of young people with faculty degree that are also registered with NES (366). When this group is looked closely a large number of unemployed is having the following occupational backgrounds: lawyers, doctors, teachers and economists. As mentioned by NES staff during interviews Vranje has Teaching Faculty and as job openings in schools are rare many of these young people remain unemployed for a very long period.
Age group 25-29 is largest with 1,036 young people. Most young people have been looking for work for 3 months. However, especially worrying is that 41.3%, the number of young (15 to 29) that has been looking for work for more than 12 months, which puts them into the category of long-term unemployed.
Redundant workers make 18.1% at the NES registry and like the previous groups have a low level of education and have been looking for a job for a very long time. Out of the total number of redundant workers, 52.8% are women.
Roma constitutes 9.9% at the share of NES registry. Key characteristics are a low level of qualifications (there are no unemployed Roma at the NES registry with higher education). Unemployed is evenly distributed among different age groups. In total 49% Roma belong to the category of long-term unemployed.
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When looking at other categories of disadvantaged in the labour market the large category of unemployed in which both parents are unemployed. They make 18.2% of NES registry, and when looking at the educational level, 94% of people in this category have a low level (I to IV).
There are 377 single parents that are as unemployed registered with NES. Out of this number, 73.7% are women with low level of education.
Victims of domestic violence are also represented at the NES registry, and they are all women (5 in total).
When it comes to the structure of the available workforce at the NES registry, data show that the highest number of people is in the field of textile and leather industry, followed by mechanical engineering and metal processing, agriculture, food production and processing.
On the other hand, the available occupations (reported labour demand) outside the manufacturing sector (field of textile and leather industry) are in the trade, tourism and hospitality, as well as in the field of economics, law and administration. According to data provided by NES in the period from 1 January to end May, 677 available jobs were announced by employers through NES BO Vranje.
4. Interventions undertook to address local employment challenges
In order to tackle unemployment challenges in Serbia, the National Employment Service implements active employment programmes that are provided in the National Employment Action Plan that is prepared annually. Based on the analysis of the labour market situation and trends set of ALMP is proposed. This might include job brokering and counselling services, training and subsidies to increase labour supply, increase labour demand (e.g. wage subsidies) and improve the balancing of labour supply and labour demand on the labour market.
Active labour market programmes are designed centrally and implemented/administered by NES Local Branch offices by quotas provided. When it comes to ALMP implemented by National Employment Service BO Vranje (financed from the state budget), several ALMP has been dominant.
The table below provides an overview of active labour market programmes implemented by NES BO Vranje in the period from 2012 to 2015.
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Table 6: No of participants included into ALMP provided by NES BO Vranje Commented [V3]: Do these figures refer to total number of participants in ALMPs served by Vranje BO, which includes also ALMP 2012 2013 2014 2015 neighbouring municipalities or only to registered unemployed from Professional practice 80 296 / 360 Vranje Self-employment subsidies 30 13 6 47 Job creation subsidies for 10 11 / / employers Training at the request of / / 5 7 employer Public works 68 15 / 57
Apart from ALMP that are designed and administered by NES local BO, local self- governments have an opportunity to prepare Local Employment Action Plan that envisages ALMP that are tailored to address specificities of local labour markets. Once the LSG prepares LEAP, it can apply for co-financing of ALMP envisaged in LEAP. Every year the list of ALMP for which the co-financing can be requested in provided in the National Employment Action Plan. The LSG can select from the given list ALMP they can request co-financing. In the case of co-financing, centrally designed ALMP cannot be changed.
LSG need to fulfil the following conditions if they want to apply for the co-funding from the national budget:
• to have established Local Employment Council; • to have adopted LEAP; • that LEAP is accordance with NEAP; • that LSG provides more than half of the funds needed to finance a particular program or measure. Exceptionally, in case of underdeveloped local self- government, the minister responsible for employment, may authorise participation in financing was secured when Commented [V4]: Unfinished sentence
National Employment Action Plan for 2017 envisages following programme/measures which for which LSG could have requested co-financing:
• Public works – targeting hard to employ; • Professional practice programme - unemployed persons regardless of age can be included • Acquisition of practical knowledge for unqualified persons • Subsidy for self-employment
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• Subsidy for employment of unemployed persons from the category of hard to employ – targeting unemployed persons from one or more categories of difficult to employ, including: young people under 30 years of age, over 50 years old, redundant workers, Roma, persons with disabilities, beneficiaries of social assistance, youth under 30 years of age with the status of martyrs' children, young people under 30 years of age who had / have the status of a child without parental care, victims of human trafficking and victims of domestic violence.
However, apart from co-financing, the LSG can decide to solely finance ALMP which then opens the space to create innovative ALMP or to adjust/change already existing (level of subsidy, duration of employment obligation, etc.).
The city of Vranje is quite advanced when it comes to the planning of employment policy. Local Employment Council has been established by the Mayor in 2010 and has an advisory role when it comes to employment planning. It has 13 members (8 from local self- government in charge of different sectors, 1 representative of the local NES branch office, 3 representatives of employers, 1 representative of school).
Vranje has been preparing Local Employment Action Plan since 2012. The general strategic direction of Vranje emphasised in the Local Development Strategy includes following goals that are closely linked to employment: ➢ Investing in economic infrastructure ➢ Investment incentives ➢ Supporting the further development of small and medium-sized enterprises ➢ Redefining educational profiles in order to align with market needs ➢ Improving conditions for full socio-professional affirmation of young people and mitigating negative demographic trends ➢ Permanent strengthening of the capacities of local self-government, as a civil service.
The focus of Local Employment Action Plans from 2012 onwards was on unemployed youth, so the only proposed active labour market programme (ALMP) was professional practice, intended for young unemployed that have completed faculty, that have done professional practice in either public or private sector from 9 to 12 months. In 2012 over 80 young graduates were included in the professional practice.
During the 2013/2014 City of Vranje from its budget, again financed and implemented a programme of professional practice for 296 young people, while in a subsequent year, 360 young university graduates in public and private sectors were included. Should be
11 noted though that Vranje although invested resources have never evaluated effects of professional practice regarding employment effects. Contributing factor to most probably low employment was the fact that at the end of 2013 the government has introduced employment freeze in the public sector as a part of a package of austerity measures which remains in effect even today. This practically means that those young people that have done their practice in the public sector could not be even considered for employment.
4.1. ALMP envisaged for 2017
The city of Vranje adopted Local Employment Action Plan in January 2017. There are several ALMP that is envisaged to be implemented in 2017 and for the first time since 2012 Vranje has decided to finance other ALMP then professional practice.
Local Employment Action Plans for 2017 includes following ALMP: 1 Public works 2. Professional practice programme 3. Self-employment subsidies 4. Training at the request of employer
As shown in the tables below the City of Vranje applied for co-financing of the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs for three ALMP while the fourth ALMP, training at the request of the employer, plans to finance from its resources.
The total budget envisaged for implementation of ALMP from Local Employment Action Plan is 26,529,414 RSD (approximately 214,000 EUR).
The table below provides an overview of ALMP with planned number of beneficiaries to be included as well as a source of funding.
Table7: Overview of ALMP planned in LEAP
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ALMP Expected Implementing Financial Sources of funding results agency resources in RSD LSG budget State budget
Public works 138 engaged LSG, NES 13,725,491.00 7,000,000.00 6,725,491.00
Professional 23 with LSG, NES 5,882,353.00 3,000,000.00 2,882,353.00 practice university degree included, 7 with higher education 7 in private and public sector Self- 21 subsidies LSG, NES 3,921,570.00 2,000,000.00 1,921,570.00 employment subsidy
Training at Depending on LSG 3,000,000.00 3,000,000.00 the request available of employer resources TOTAL 26,529,414.00 15,000,000.00 11,529,414.00
4.2. Main obstacles for accelerated employment growth
The main challenges for job creation and employment growth in Vranje can be attributed to the following factors: ➢ Challenges related to unfinished privatisation processes, ➢ Relatively underdeveloped private sector and limited job opportunities to absorb all unemployed, ➢ Labour taxation that drives employers into grey economy, ➢ Complex and costly tax procedures, non-transparent tax system, ➢ High degree of tolerance for the shadow economy, ➢ Large influx of the unemployed that have lost jobs due to privatisation and restructuring of state-owned enterprises and the public sector, ➢ Lack of adequate skills and competencies of the unemployed, ➢ High overall inactivity rate and low employment rate,
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5. Economic development potentials and obstacles
During the sixties, Vranje had several big factories that employed a large number of people including Tobacco Industry Vranje (DIV), Simpo (furniture factory), shoe factory Koštana, cotton factory Jumko, etc, However, as a result of failed privatisations most factories went bankrupt or significantly decreased thenumber of employees,
Currently, there are more than 2,000 companies that operate in Vranje, The dominant economic sectors are wood processing, clothing, footwear and furniture, food and beverages, followed by agriculture, textile industry, chemical industry, construction industry, machinery and equipment and business services, There are several major companies including British American Tobacco, Geox, Simpo, Mikromodeli, Alpha Plam, Sancho, D, Mladenovic, Kenda Farben, Danny Stajl, OMV and Hellenic Petroleum that are present in Vranje,
When looking at the statistics related to active business entities (companies and entrepreneurs) from 2013 to 2016 slight increase can be noted,
Graph 3, Number of business entities by year
Source: Business Registry Agency
Data of the Business Registry Agency show that Vranje has the following business structure: 1. Active entrepreneurs – 2,159 2. Active companies – 943
The city owns 110 acres in Bunuševac that is fully equipped industrial zone, Geox, the shoe company, has built its production plant and put into operation the factory while the
14 construction of Ditre Italia is in the final stage (411 workers in the first phase), which will produce high-quality furniture intended for export, In cooperation with Confindustria, with the support of USAID, City of Vranje made the feasibility study for a training centre in the area of the zone,
In addition, the City authorities provide incentives for investors, especially those that employ new workers (for example they are exempted from payment of contributions for the construction of construction land, local utility fees, etc,),
When looking at the data on expected jobs creation in 2017 (832 jobs), obtained through Employers survey conducted by NES, it is expected that most jobs in Vranje will be created in the following sectors: processing industry (486), wholesale and retail trading, vehicle repair (148), mining, supply of electricity, gas and steam, water supply and waste water management (71), When looking at the groups of occupations the job creation can be expected for providers of services and craft, drivers and operators of mobile machinery, administrators, agents and related jobs will be created,
Most of the jobs are expected to be created in small and medium enterprises (over 96%),
When looking at the distribution of future job openings by municipalities, it is expected that most of the jobs are created in Vranje (580), followed by Bosilegrad (77), When looking the overall distribution of jobs across municipalities that surround Vranje, 69% of jobs are expected to be opened in Vranje while the rest is divided among 6 municipalities that are under NES BO Vranje,
Most of the job that is expected to be created will be for the low educated/qualified labour force (elementary school and II level of education) which in a way corresponds with the qualification of the workforce that is registered with NES, The key challenges, however, remain the fact that expected number of jobs to be created is relatively small in comparison to the number of registered unemployed, In addition, as stated by several companies, although there are around 7,000 people at the registry of NES, they do not have the right qualification which is often accompanied by the low motivation actually to find work, As many of them are social assistance recipients, they combine informal employment with social assistance benefits which demotivate them to transfer to formal employment,
And although there are several investors that have announced the opening of their business it seems they will be faced with the difficulty of finding qualified work force, For example, Alpha Plam, company that produces ovens and stoves wanted to employ 120 new workers (welders) for its recently opened branch in Surdulica, a municipality close to
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Vranje, Since there were no welders at the NES registry with the support of the GIZ, they have invested into the training of unemployed, mainly young people that will be offered employment after successful completion of 3 months training course,
Even existing business now go beyond Vranje in search for the work force and are even Commented [V5]: qualified work force paying transport cost of employees to motivate them to travel and work in Vranje,
In addition, when looking at the statistics related to companies, there is an equal number of those that are being opened and closed,
Another factor that should be mentioned is that jobs that are opened are low paid jobs for the low skilled workforce (wood processing, textile, etc,), Monthly salary in most enterprises visited was ranging from RSD 25,000 to 35,000 (EUR 210-290), The working conditions, according to many interviewees, in many of these companies are appalling, workers’ rights are not respected, and most people are working for a minimum wage, In many cases, those that are working are faced with the fact that salaries are not regularly paid,
The combination of all listed factors, unfortunately, affects the motivation of unemployed to work which is why they often slip into long term unemployment,
6. Education and VET
In the city of Vranje, there are 15 primary and 7 secondary schools (gymnasium, technical, agricultural, etc,), one high school (High School of Applied Studies) and 1 faculty (Teacher Education), Vranje has a primary school for adult education,
A technical school in Vranje provides education in the fields of mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and traffic within different educational profiles, School also provides accredited programmes of retraining, acquiring of additional qualification and specialisation from all those interested
The School of Chemistry and Technology (VET school) from Vranje was verified for the following four-year and three-year educational profiles: Chemistry, Non-Metals and Graphic Arts, Forestry and Woodworking, Textile and Leatherworking, Besides regular education programmes, the school offers and extra-curricular education,
People’s University that provides additional training and retraining for production and service occupations in the field of mechanical engineering, construction, services for the
16 care and beauty (and other service occupations, University also provides various language courses,
The School of Applied Studies as an accredited educational institution that offers the following educational profiles: Environmental Protection, Food Technology, Technology of wood, Road traffic, Mechanical engineering, Production economy and Entrepreneurial management, In addition, the school provides two specialist courses in Road traffic and Entrepreneurial management,
Primary School for Adult Education provides basic education and upbringing of adults from I to VIII grade for a period of 4 years,
Although the City of Vranje has a number of VET schools the impression from talking to employers is that education system does not provide a qualified workforce, For example, although there is a large demand for a qualified workforce that will be working in shoe making industry in Vranje none of the existing schools offers necessary profile which would enable steady supply of the qualified workforce, Even if the profile is introduced this year, it will take at least 3 years until the qualified labour market entrants are available in the market,
In order to compensate qualified labour supply shortage many of the operating business has opted to their training centres in which they offer short term skills training to those willing to work, It seems that quite a generous system of subsidies that are provided to foreign employers enabled provision of such training, It should be however noted that none of these courses are accredited by the Ministry of Education, Training centres in Vranje exist in several larger companies such as Top sofa, Geox, etc, while the smaller employers, although also in need of the qualified work force in many instances cannot bear the cost of the training,
7. Social protection/social services
According to official statistics, 8,539 people in Vranje uses services of the Centre for Social Work (about 10% of the population), The city of Vranje has a very developed system of community-based social services, This includes the following: Day care centre for children with disabilities operates for the last 10 years, It is attended by 15 children of different ages and different impairments,
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Sheltered housing is provided for children that are existing???? social protection system (either institutionalised accommodation or foster families), For this purpose, the City has bought and handed over to the Centre for Social Work an apartment of 38m2,
Safe house for victims of domestic violence was established in 2015, and it accommodates women and children from the entire district, Currently, there are 7 women in the safe house, 5 of which are unemployed,
Personal assistance service has been initiated in November 2016, and it is intended to support children with disability to attend school, At the same time, this service is envisaged as a support to parents that have a disabled child so that they can work, Currently, 22 personal assistants are engaged, most of them have a university degree of a Teaching Faculty, The service is funded through the project,
Shelter for elderly and old people accommodates primarily people that are in poor economic and health conditions that are lacking basic care in their homes, These are old people that have no relatives to take care of them, The shelter can take up to 35 beneficiaries, They are accommodated in the shelter until they are institutionalised or until someone from their families is capable of taking over responsibility for them, Home care is provided for about 30 beneficiaries by 4 women, The service includes buying of supplies, maintaining of personal hygiene of the beneficiaries, cleaning of premises, etc,
8. SWOT Analysis
Strengths Weaknesses • Geographical location • Low skills of the labour force • Corridor 10 • Discrepancy of education to • Connections with the needs of the labour neighbouring countries market • Good internet connection • Mismatch between the • Wi-Fi in the city demand and supply in • Telephones employment Opportunities Threats • Reach traditions in • Employment in public sector manufacturing is forbidden • Industry • Unfinished process of • People with experience from transition from state owned the previous industry which to private knowledge could be upgraded
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9. Conclusion
The city of Vranje has recognised the importance of local employment policy development and since 2012 has been continuously investing efforts to address the issue of unemployment systematically, It has functional Local Employment Council that can serve as the basis for a project assisted the development of Territorial Employment Plan,
Despite to several identified obstacles to accelerated employment growth (unfinished privatisation processes, relatively limited job opportunities to absorb unemployed, etc,), there are opportunities that can be used to encourage employment of disadvantaged groups that include some economic sectors in which job openings are expected,
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