Regional development strategy - RDA South

22.2REGIONAL PROFILEPopulation, Demographics, Human Resources and Labour MarketREGIONAL DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY FOR THE ECONOMIC REGION SOUTHHuman Resourcesand Labour MarketHuman resources available in the region arecharacterized by a relatively broad range ofskills. This is in part due to a historical factorwhere a fair number of industries representedby now defunct SOEs that have been presentin the region. While most of the SOEs havebeen liquidated and some of them spun offand underwent deep restructuring, most ofthe previous workforce in the middle agebracket possesses skills that are not fully utilizedor are unlikely to be utilized.The second significant factor contributingto the wide range of skills of the workforce isthe system of vocational training. As an example,educational institutions of the regionduring the school year of 2007/2008 have offeredfollowing ten areas of vocational training:• Machinery and metal processing• Electro-technical• Building Construction• Traffic• Apparel and Leather• Chemistry, Graphics• Trade and Tourism• Economics and Legal• Medicine• ArtsDue to the age structure (large share of theyounger population segment), on the averagethere is good knowledge of ICT and graphicdesign. This is a competitive advantage of thelocal work force which increases the attractivenessof the region to foreign investors,particularly in the services sector.UnemploymentStructureThe cumulative number of unemployed registeredat the public employment services forthe entire Kosovo until the end of 2008 hasbeen 334.595 people. The data for 2008 illustratesan average annual increase of unemploymentfigure of 0,4% which is significantlylower as compared to the increase of annualunemployment rate in 2007 and still muchlower than the results from the precedingyears. The most recent data related to unemploymentin Kosovo in May 2009 peg the unemployedpopulation figure at 338.618 unemployedindividuals, where 47.2% were females.TABLE 2:Unemployment by level of qualificationQualifications levelRegistered%UnemployedUnqualified 40.134 60%Semi-qualified 2.676 4%Qualified 6.020 9%Secondary Education 16.722 25%Higher Education (min.two years post secondary)669 1%University Education 669 1%TABLE 3:Unemployment by ageAge Registered%unemployed15-24 20.200 30.2%25-39 29.500 44.1%40-54 13.043 19.5%55-64 4.147 6.2%TABLE 4:Unemployment by ethnicityEthnicityRegistered %unemployedAlbanian 60.870 91%Serb 1.376 2%Other minorities 4.644 7%The latest data for Region South cover thefirst quarter of 2009 and show 66.890 unemployedpeople. The official publication ofMLSW corroborates the figure of 57.890 unemployed,with additional 9.000 unemployedfrom Malisheva Municipality are erroneouslyattributed to Region West instead of being includedin the Region South figure. As expected,the data in Table 2 illustrate that there is astrong correlation between unemploymentand the level of qualifications.As far as the age average is concerned, thevast majority of unemployed in the cumulativefigures refers to the age of 25-30 year-olds.As in the previous years, the highest pressurein terms of unemployment is still among theyoungest group of the age, which is illustratedby the increase in registrations (+3%) andthe entry rate into the group of unemployed.In general, the unemployment rate in theRegion remains high with nearly 67.000 peoplewithout a job. The unemployment growth12