The labor force in Albania is leaving, concern for the economy

They say the government should promote policies in important sectors such as agriculture and tourism that are suffering from the labor crisis. The authorities underline that they have drawn up several initiatives, such as the one for the youth guarantee and for promoting employment, with the aim of curbing, mainly, the flight of young people from the country.

In Albania, there is a growing concern about the decline of the labor force, almost in all sectors of the economy where, according to experts, the most affected are tourism, agriculture and services. Job demands are lower than market offers, which is also confirmed by the authorities. In the first 6 months of this year, 13,000 job requests from 20,000 vacancies were registered in the employment offices, while 12,000 were mediated. Experts believe that the three successive earthquake crises, the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian aggression in Ukraine have had their impact.

“Perhaps the new generation, which is the most important thing, is trying to leave to compensate for the missing economic part of these two years. Two years is not a little to not get a salary every month. Maybe people are now trying the faster routes that give faster, bigger incomes, in a shorter time, to make up for these two years. The economic gap that we all had, this may be a factor, that we have departures abroad, especially of young people.“- Kliton Gërxhani, Albanian Association of Tour Operators, told VOA

According to INSTAT data, in the last 7 years, an average of 37,000 citizens have left the country each year, or 1.2% of the population, and the concern, according to experts, remains the fact that about 80% of them are of the most active age group for work, 15 – 44 years old. A student of the Language-Literature branch at the University of Tirana, tells the Voice of America that there will be many difficulties in employment, due to the high quotas of students, in relation to the jobs. She shares personal feelings when she returns to her hometown in the summer, due to its abandonment by young people.

“When I returned to my town in Burrel, it was a pity how the town had been emptied of young men. There were only old people. Based on my family situation, in the place where I live, there were over 20 sons and none of them are here today, they fled to emigration”– Desada Xjetani, a student in the Language and Literature department at the University of Tirana, told Voice of America.

Another student tells VOA the hurdles new graduates face in the job market.

“They do not have very high salaries to afford living. They will have to do either two jobs or a job outside their profile that has a higher salary. And to rise in career and get a higher salary, they will have to spend many years to reach a salary to meet their minimum living expenses”– said Jurgen Spaho, student in the applied informatics department, Marin Barleti University.

Authorities say some efforts are being made to keep the youth in the country. Deputy The Minister of Finance and Economy singles out for the Voice of America the youth guarantee initiative, which is expected to be applied next year, as well as the employment promotion program.

“This is a special initiative, which is completely dedicated to young people, i.e. the 16-29 age group who are registered as unemployed. These young people will be given a concrete offer, an incentive program, a training or training program at the workplace within a period of 4 months after registering at the employment offices as job seekers. I would also like to single out the employment program, which is a budget support offered to all jobseekers as well as employers. There are 12 salaries for a period of one year for the job seeker, who is attached to a business”– Olta Manjani, Vice President, said for the Voice of America. Minister of Finance and Economy.

The number of unemployment in the country, according to INSTAT, is 11.5%, with a decrease of 2.2% compared to 5 years ago, but experts say that the situation seen in a deeper perspective, in many sectors, appears serious. Rexhep Uka, a longtime expert in the agricultural sector, has built an agrotourism unit on the outskirts of the capital. He says for the Voice of America that agriculture needs a deep structural reform. People choose to work in agriculture in neighboring countries – he says, where the income is several times higher.

“There is no more difficult problem today than finding a workforce. It is a problem that can lead to bankruptcy. So far we may have changed staff over 20 times, then think about what their qualification preparation means. Agritourism is a great source of income and Albanian agriculture prepares not only for 2 million to 3 million tourists, but also 5 to 10 million. But this requires preparation, level of education, training and qualification. It requires vocational schools, which are lacking in my opinion. I can draw the comparison to Fultz. Is there a farm school like Fultz? Is there an agricultural school similar to Golem, Delvina, Korca secondary school? No, there isn’t”– said Rexhep Uka, an expert in the field of agriculture and agro-tourism.

Officials are aware of the problems in the agricultural sector and say that the requirements for qualification in vocational schools in this field are low.

“In this sector there are several problems, the first is the whole process of urbanization, the fact that agriculture is not a sector where young people would like to invest, the problems of informality or other problems related to the training or formation of the workforce in this sector . In this context, I would like to mention that there are about 35 vocational schools in Albania and 10 public vocational training centers, which in most of them, among other sectors, cover education and training courses or curricula. the agricultural sector is also professional”– follows Olta Manjani, Deputy. Minister of Finance and Economy.

Labor market experts believe that the time has come for a new approach of entrepreneurs in the framework of the treatment of the workforce, starting from the creation of working conditions, the necessary infrastructure, employee motivation, evaluation based on the result at work and not on working hours, internal career promotion, etc.

“Through the dissatisfaction created by many employees, they multiply the negative image of the internal functioning in companies and institutions. They build a stereotype of what the labor market reflects today in terms of being attractive to local employees and enabling and cultivating the claims and expectations they have to develop professionally”– said Erion Muça, an expert on the labor market, for the Voice of America.

The labor shortage crisis in countries like Albania, where the mechanisms for its minimization are weak, becomes even greater. Albania has also been affected by the shrinking population for years. In the last 7 years, the population has decreased by nearly 70,000, or 2.4% of the population. In addition to emigration, the drop in births is also the cause, about 7 thousand less than 10 years ago. If measures are not taken to curb the contraction, all these factors combined with each other, according to experts, will put the labor market in Albania in great difficulty./VOA

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