Skopje, 12 March 2024 (MIA) — The government has earmarked two billion denars to provide help to over 15,000 unemployed persons through this year's Operational Plan for Active Employment Measures and Programs and Labor Market Services, including support to some 2,000 people who want to start their own business.

According to officials speaking at the plan's launch, held earlier on Tuesday under the slogan "A Chance for Everyone," state support for beginning entrepreneurs was the most requested measure.

The Operational Plan also contains measures to create new jobs in micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, including wage subsidies and subsidies for business growth, which are expected to help employ over 1,120 people.

The main focus will be the employment of the most vulnerable categories of citizens — long-term unemployed young people; women; members of the Roma community — and a special fund will provide support for employing 150 people with disabilities.

"This year's plan covers 15,244 beneficiaries, of whom 11,622 through employment measures and 3,622 through services. In developing the Operational Plan, our main goal is to establish a functional and flexible platform for the implementation of measures and services that will give everyone a chance," caretaker Minister of Labor and Social Policy Gjoko Velkovski said.

In drafting the plan, he said, efforts had been made to achieve an equal representation of men and women as well as an inclusion of at least 30 percent of young people aged 29 or under. 

"The vulnerable categories of the unemployed remain one of the priority goals of the Operational Plan, which highlights our general commitment to equal opportunities for all," Velkovski said.

This year, he added, a special focus would be placed on supporting local SMEs as well as providing skilled workers through various types of training in real workplaces.

The plan also included digital transformation and environmental investments, the labor minister said.

According to him, the state had not been providing enough support to unemployed people. The support given to businesses was not substantial enough for companies to offer higher paychecs to young people, who were the leaving the country in search of better paid jobs. But older people too, he said, were moving as well, seeking higher salaries and better living standards.

Employment Agency director Vedat Osmani said that each new Operational Plan had a bigger budget than the previous one, so the number of people who were given an opportunity to join the labor market was increasing.

"This year's Operational Plan will seriously contribute to improving the country's labor market. All 30 centers of the Employment Agency are ready to implement it," Osmani said.

United Nations Development Program Resident Representative Armen Grigoryan said as part of this year's Operational Plan, UNDP and the Employment Agency would implement several key measures and employment programs to increase the employability of vulnerable categories of citizens.

Grigoryan said the UNDP was a long-term partner of the Government and national institutions and it would continue cooperating with all relevant stakeholders by designing innovative mechanisms to encourage economic growth and development of the private sector and to ensure equal opportunities for all. mr/