📋 Tender Overview
To raise labour market participation and address the growing workforce shortage affecting the Serbian economy, in partnership with the Serbian Ministry of Labour, Swiss approaches and instruments for labour-market insertion will be adopted and scaled by key labour-market actors from the central and local Government, civil society and the private sector. Serbian companies will be capacitated to train their workforce independently and sustainably, and to fill vacancies through improved job matching services.
Country/region Topic Period Budget
Serbia
Vocational training
Employment & economic development
nothemedefined
Vocational training
Employment creation
01.05.2024 - 30.04.2028
CHF 7’000’000
The project in brief
Background As Serbia’s population declines and ages rapidly (low birth rates, emigration), the economy faces a major workforce shortage. In 2023, 59% of companies complained of not finding adequate workforce. Despite of steady progress in terms of labour force participation in the last decade, there is still a vast untapped potential to enhance labour market participation and to match the need of skilled labour in the private sector. The Government of Serbia (GoS) is aware that it cannot afford to leave so many people outside of the labour market. At national level, the National Employment Service is funding and implementing an impressive array of labour market measures through a countrywide network of branches. At local level, the law foresees that Local Self Governments (LSG) formulate and co-finance local employment action plans (LEAP). In compliance with its obligations as an EU accession candidate, the recent commitment of the GoS to introduce a Youth Guarantee (YG) has also been a major game-changer. The YG requires the GoS to provide young people with job offers, continuing education, practice or training within four months of them becoming unemployed and has opened up a promising avenue for the disengagement and sustainability strategy of the Swiss supported E2E project. In its last phase, E2E will adopt amore systemic and facilitative way of working. Building on successes in terms of municipalities contributing to the labour-market services, the project will reinforce its work with both the municipalities and the Ministry of Labour/NES, to embed the tools and services it has developed and leverage national and local funds.
Objectives Women and men, including vulnerable groups, benefit from new or better employment opportunities through a more market-oriented job matching and industry-led training offer.
Target groups All women and men of working age (15-65), including prospective workers (currently still in the education system) and inactive people who need to be mobilized to join the labour market (particularly women over 45 years, Roma, persons with disabilities, single parents, victims of domestic violence) Key targets: 2700 women and men matched with open positions, 35’000 women and men use improved labour
