Montenegro
More needs to be done to create jobs for young people
According to an ILO report, only one-quarter of young people actually work in Montenegro.
The International Labour Organization (ILO) organized a Conference to present main findings of the ILO Report "Labour Market transition of young women and men in Montenegro" on 20 April 2016 in Podgorica, Montenegro.
The report reviews key challenges young people face in Montenegro, which are high level of unemployment and low level of activity rates. According to the report, based on a school to work transition survey, youth unemployment rate (between age of 15 and 29) was 41.3 per cent in 2015 (44.8 per cent for men and 36.4 per cent for women) and it was two times higher than the general unemployment rate standing at 17.6 per cent (17.3 per cent for women and 17.7 per cent for men) in the same period.
As Ms Sara Elder, Coordinator of the ILO Work4Youth Project , highlighted, the main importance of the report is to demonstrate how few young people are actually working. „Only 25.2 per cent of young people (26 per cent of men and 24.2 per cent of women) have a job, which is far too low compared to the 46 per cent of EU average“, said Ms Elder in her opening remark. In addition, 28 per cent of youth are neither in employment nor in education or training.
„More needs to be done to create jobs for young people in Montenegro, especially in order to explore more possibilities to combine work with school, which has proven successful in easing labour market transitions in some countries“ emphasized Ms Elder. Also, the average length of transition from school to a first stable job is too long, 21 months in Montenegro. This is a difficult period during which a motivated and skilled young person has to continue to rely on their families or on the social security system for economic support, instead of contributing to the economic growth of the country, pointed out Ms Elder.
Other speakers included Mr Vujica Lazovic, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policy and Financial System; Mrs Zorica Kovačević, Minister of Labour and Social Welfare; and Mrs Arijana Nikolić Vučinić, Ministry of Education. The Conference also gathered representatives of the Employment Service of Montenegro, Social Council, social partners, universities, Delegation of the EU to Montenegro and UN System in Montenegro.
Deputy Prime Minister Vujica Lazović promised that the Governement will do further efforts to find solutions to improve the employability of young people and to better align the education system with the needs of the labour market.
Minister of Labour and Social Welfare Kovačević said addressing the conference that this report, together with the survey, will upgrade current efforts and policies of the governmnet targeting young people and will serve as a platform for further strengthening the linkage between education and employment.
The study, which is based on a school-to-work transition survey, designed by the ILO and conducted by the National Statistical Office of Montenegro in September and October 2015, was prepared with the support of the MasterCard Foundation.
The ILO Report "Labour Market transition of young women and men in Montenegro" will also serve as a basis for development of a white paper on youth employability in Montenegro aiming to accelerate quality labour market transition and create enabling conditions for decent work and youth empowerement within the ILO project „Strengthening the employability of youth in Montenegro“ currently implemented in the country.
The report reviews key challenges young people face in Montenegro, which are high level of unemployment and low level of activity rates. According to the report, based on a school to work transition survey, youth unemployment rate (between age of 15 and 29) was 41.3 per cent in 2015 (44.8 per cent for men and 36.4 per cent for women) and it was two times higher than the general unemployment rate standing at 17.6 per cent (17.3 per cent for women and 17.7 per cent for men) in the same period.
As Ms Sara Elder, Coordinator of the ILO Work4Youth Project , highlighted, the main importance of the report is to demonstrate how few young people are actually working. „Only 25.2 per cent of young people (26 per cent of men and 24.2 per cent of women) have a job, which is far too low compared to the 46 per cent of EU average“, said Ms Elder in her opening remark. In addition, 28 per cent of youth are neither in employment nor in education or training.
„More needs to be done to create jobs for young people in Montenegro, especially in order to explore more possibilities to combine work with school, which has proven successful in easing labour market transitions in some countries“ emphasized Ms Elder. Also, the average length of transition from school to a first stable job is too long, 21 months in Montenegro. This is a difficult period during which a motivated and skilled young person has to continue to rely on their families or on the social security system for economic support, instead of contributing to the economic growth of the country, pointed out Ms Elder.
Other speakers included Mr Vujica Lazovic, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Policy and Financial System; Mrs Zorica Kovačević, Minister of Labour and Social Welfare; and Mrs Arijana Nikolić Vučinić, Ministry of Education. The Conference also gathered representatives of the Employment Service of Montenegro, Social Council, social partners, universities, Delegation of the EU to Montenegro and UN System in Montenegro.
Deputy Prime Minister Vujica Lazović promised that the Governement will do further efforts to find solutions to improve the employability of young people and to better align the education system with the needs of the labour market.
Minister of Labour and Social Welfare Kovačević said addressing the conference that this report, together with the survey, will upgrade current efforts and policies of the governmnet targeting young people and will serve as a platform for further strengthening the linkage between education and employment.
The study, which is based on a school-to-work transition survey, designed by the ILO and conducted by the National Statistical Office of Montenegro in September and October 2015, was prepared with the support of the MasterCard Foundation.
The ILO Report "Labour Market transition of young women and men in Montenegro" will also serve as a basis for development of a white paper on youth employability in Montenegro aiming to accelerate quality labour market transition and create enabling conditions for decent work and youth empowerement within the ILO project „Strengthening the employability of youth in Montenegro“ currently implemented in the country.