Deputy Prime Minister Damir Polančec stated today that he does not expect an increase in unemployment in 2009, although he does not believe that the unemployment rate will continue to decline at the same pace as in the past three years.
Times will be more complex; even today, in certain segments, we have announcements for programs to manage excess employees, but the unemployment rate is continuously falling and new jobs are being created, and this will continue in the future, said Polančec during his visit to the Croatian Employment Service (HZZ) on the occasion of the 102nd anniversary of the employment service in Croatia. Polančec emphasized that at the beginning of October, there were 228,501 registered unemployed at HZZ, which is 23,000 fewer people than in October of last year. This is 13.4 percent registered unemployment, which is the lowest rate in the last ten years. This rate has been continuously declining since 2002 when it was 22 percent, and there were 415,000 people registered at the labor market.
– The aging population, and thus the workforce, will become a major problem for this country in the future. We must work together in cooperation with counties, cities, and municipalities, and with the help of unions and the government, to devise strategies for employing people – said Marija Halić, project manager at HZZ. The institute, in cooperation with city offices for education and health, has launched various projects, including, as Halić says, a retraining program for the unemployed that is being implemented at the public open college.
– In Zagreb, we are recording positive trends; moreover, we have a higher demand for workers than there are qualified individuals in the labor market – says Halić, adding that it is most difficult to employ workers with secondary vocational education over the age of 35. (S. M.)
We are aware that the global financial crisis will not bypass Croatia, which has many structural problems, such as a low employment rate of only 57.1 percent, which places us near the bottom of Europe, as only Malta and Poland rank lower than us, added Polančec. From January 1, 2009, the Law on Employment Mediation and Rights of Unemployed Persons will come into force, which will allow unemployed persons to receive compensation from HZZ amounting to 70 percent of the average salary in the last three months with the previous employer for the first 90 days after losing their job. During these 90 days, HZZ advisors must conduct an analysis of the knowledge and skills of the unemployed person and a professional employment plan. After the 90 days, the unemployed person will receive compensation amounting to 50 percent of the average quarterly salary.
The government has secured funds for the implementation of the new law – 120 million kuna more for benefits than in this year, in which the budget of HZZ amounted to 1.152 billion kuna. This year, an average of 56,000 unemployed persons received benefits monthly, and this number will not increase next year. With the application of the new law, HZZ will take on a new role – it will have to maintain continuous contact with all employers in the environment to gather data on the needs for new workers and become more engaged in advising educational institutions, from primary school onward, announced the Deputy Prime Minister. Last year, HZZ advisors conducted over 540,000 individual meetings with unemployed persons, and this year so far, they have already held 450,000 meetings. (H)
