Employment promotion
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Employment promotion

In Central and Eastern Europe, the challenges posed by globalization and rapid technological change faced throughout the world are combined with those arising from the transition to a market economy. In the 1990s, countries in the region had to come to terms with rapidly rising unemployment.

Since 2000, Central and Eastern European countries have enjoyed relatively rapid economic growth, starting from a low base following a decade of slow or negative growth. Nevertheless this substantial economic growth has not created enough jobs and has been hindered by the financial and economic crisis that started in 2008 Unemployment rates have jumped to double figures in many Central and Eastern European countries, and to this is added growth in employment and income inequalities, the emergence of substantial levels of informal and precarious employment, and the declining real value of minimum wages. Countries in Central and Eastern Europe are also faced by large disparities in unemployment rates within their own borders, both by geographical location and by national origin.

Highlight

  1. Feature article

    An old craft creates opportunities for Albania’s new generation
    1 May 2012

    Hate Ora has transformed herself from an informal worker into a successful woman entrepreneur with the help of the MDG-Fund’s UN Joint Programme on Youth Employment and Migration, a collaboration between four UN agencies and the Albanian government to create decent work opportunities for marginalized young people and to help the country manage the internal migration of youth in search of jobs.

  2. Video

    Working Together to Boost Youth Employment in Serbia
    January 1, 2011

    Serbia was hit hard by the global economic crisis, particularly its young people, who are living a “crisis within the crisis”. Often what they learned in school doesn’t match what employers are looking for, making it hard for them to find work. It’s worse for young people who didn’t do well in school, or dropped out. But in Serbia, the government, trade unions and employers, working together, have designed new policy interventions to give young people, especially those with low levels of education, a chance to find a decent job and keep it.

What's new

  1. ILO study says austerity measures and labour reforms will further increase workplace inequality in Europe

    06 March 2012

    Workplace inequalities have increased significantly across Europe as a result of the global economic crisis and will continue to do so as more and more countries introduce austerity measures and labour reforms, according to a new study published by the International Labour Office (ILO).

  2. New EU programme, implemented by the ILO, supports human capital and employment in Albania with €3 million

    10 February 2012

    A €3 million project, with funding by the European Union to improve the employability of the Albanian labour force was launched on 10th of February, 2012 in Tirana, Albania. Implemented by the International Labour Organisation in partnership with relevant ministries and the social partners the project will seek to enhance the capacity of the Labour Inspectorate to assess working conditions, introduce health and safety legislation in line with EU law and close the existing gap between the skills demanded by the market and those taught through vocational education and training.

  3. The Global Jobs Pact: Supporting strategies to recover from the crisis in South-Eastern Europe

    12 October 2011

    The objective of the conference was to share knowledge on crisis recovery experiences of the Balkan countries, as well as to define successful policy design options and recommendations for a sustainable jobs-led recovery.

Employment Programme of the ILO for Central and Eastern Europe

The ILO Decent Work Technical Support Team and Country Office for Central and Eastern Europe provides technical and advisory services to governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations on employment policy development and implementation.

The areas of focus revolve around the review of employment policies, capacity-building and advisory services on the design, monitoring and evaluation of employment and labour market policies, technical support for the formulation and implementation of national employment programmes, reform of the adult training system, employment services, active labour market policies targeting disadvantaged individuals, as well as labour market information.
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