Bulgaria : Raising Skills for Employment, Growth and Convergence

The Bulgarian labor market has seen remarkable improvements in recent years and has contributed to strong economic growth. The benign environment for job creation is now changing, as the global economic crisis impacts on labor market demand in Bulgaria. Compared to the EU27 averages, activity and employment rates have remained low, and Bulgaria has significant untapped domestic labor reserves. Bulgarian pupils in school also do not acquire the necessary skills and competencies to compete in a high innovation economy. Continued available vacancies suggest that skills shortages remain a barrier to employment even during the crisis and measures to retrain and up-skill the unemployed and those at risk of lay-off is an important policy direction for the short-term. In light of Bulgaria s demographic decline over the coming decades, medium-term growth and convergence require sustained increases in labor productivity and investments in human capital. Short-term measures during the economic crisis ideally combine efforts to keep workers in employment through temporary publicly subsidized short-working hour schemes as well as the use of unemployment benefits and measures to accelerate transitions from old to new jobs. The economic crisis is an opportune moment to address skills shortages both to tackle unemployment and to help the recovery in the short-term and to promote the foundation for medium-term economic growth and convergence. Looking at the medium term, with Bulgaria s labor productivity remaining low in a European comparison, sustained interventions from early childhood to adult education are necessary over the coming years to raise human capital and ensure the increases in labor productivity that Bulgaria needs to accelerate growth and convergence. In satisfying the growing demand for skilled labor and boosting employment, Bulgaria needs to urgently look at promoting the transition of young people from education to the labor market, including through keeping them longer in school and ensuring they earn the skills that are in demand in the labor market as well as promoting part-time employment and internship programs for young people.

Bibliographic Details

Main Author:	World Bank
Language:	English en_US
Published:	Washington, DC 2009-09
Subjects:	ACCESS TO QUALITY EDUCATION, ADJUSTMENT COSTS, ADULT EDUCATION, ADULT LEARNING, ADULT TRAINING, ADULT WOMEN, ADULT WORKERS, ADULTS, BASIC EDUCATION, BASIC LITERACY, CAREER, CAREER COUNSELING, CHILD CARE, CHILD PROTECTION, CHILD WELFARE, COLLEGES, COMPULSORY GENERAL EDUCATION, COMPULSORY SCHOOL AGE, COMPULSORY SCHOOLING, CONTINUING EDUCATION, CURRICULA, CURRICULUM, CURRICULUM CONTENT, CURRICULUM REFORMS, DEGREE PROGRAMS, DISADVANTAGED YOUTH, DISTANCE EDUCATION, DISTANCE EDUCATION PROGRAMS, DRIVERS, EARLY CHILDHOOD, EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION, EARLY RETIREMENT, ECONOMIC GROWTH, EDUCATION OUTCOMES, EDUCATION PROGRAMS, EDUCATION REFORM, EDUCATION SYSTEM, EDUCATION SYSTEMS, EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT, EFFECTIVE TEACHERS, EMPLOYABILITY, EMPLOYMENT, EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES, EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK, EMPLOYMENT RATE, EMPLOYMENT RATES, EMPLOYMENT SERVICES, FINANCIAL MARKETS, FORMAL EDUCATION, FORMAL SCHOOLING, FORMAL TRAINING, GENERAL EDUCATION, HIGHER EDUCATION, HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS, HUMAN CAPITAL, HUMAN RESOURCES, INCOME, INNOVATION, INSURANCE, INTERVENTIONS, INVENTORY, JOB CREATION, JOB PLACEMENT, JOB PLACEMENT SERVICES, JOB SEARCH, JOB SEARCH ASSISTANCE, JOBS, KINDERGARTEN, KINDERGARTENS, KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY, LABOR DEMAND, LABOR FORCE, LABOR MARKET, LABOR MARKET DEMAND, LABOR MARKET OUTCOMES, LABOR MARKET REFORM, LABOR PRODUCTIVITY, LABOR REALLOCATION, LABOR SUPPLY, LAID-OFF WORKERS, LEARNING ENVIRONMENTS, LIFE-LONG LEARNING, LITERACY COURSES, LITERACY TESTS, LONG-TERM UNEMPLOYMENT, LOW EMPLOYMENT, LOW LEVELS OF EDUCATION, LOW UNEMPLOYMENT, LOW UNEMPLOYMENT RATES, MATHEMATICS, MINIMUM ENTRY REQUIREMENTS, NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORK, NON-FORMAL EDUCATION, NUMBER OF STUDENTS, NUTRITION, OLDER WORKERS, PAPERS, PART-TIME EMPLOYMENT, PARTICIPATION IN EDUCATION, PERMANENT EMPLOYMENT, PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE, POLITICAL ECONOMY, PRESCHOOL ENROLLMENT, PRIMARY ENROLLMENT, PRIMARY ENROLLMENT RATE, PRIVATE TRAINING, PRIVATE TRAINING PROVIDERS, PROBLEM SOLVING, PRODUCTIVITY GROWTH, READING, RETENTION IN SCHOOL, RETIREMENT, SAFETY, SAFETY NET, SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAMS, SCHOOL AGE, SCHOOL EDUCATION, SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT, SCHOOL LEAVERS, SCHOOL LEVEL, SCHOOL PROGRAMS, SCHOOL QUALITY, SCHOOL READINESS, SCHOOL SYSTEM, SCHOOLS, SECONDARY EDUCATION, SECONDARY SCHOOL, SECONDARY SCHOOLING, SECONDARY SCHOOLS, SKILL SHORTAGES, SKILLED LABOR, SKILLED WORKERS, SKILLS FOR EMPLOYMENT, STRUCTURAL UNEMPLOYMENT, STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT, STUDENT ASSESSMENTS, STUDENT LOANS, STUDENT PERFORMANCE, TEACHER, TEACHER TRAINING, TEACHERS, TEACHING, TEMPORARY EMPLOYMENT, TEMPORARY JOBS, TEMPORARY WORK, TERTIARY EDUCATION, TERTIARY GRADUATES, TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS, TERTIARY PARTICIPATION, TRADE UNIONS, TRAINED WORKERS, TRAINING COURSE, TRAINING PROGRAM, TRAINING PROGRAMS, TRAINING SYSTEM, UNEMPLOYED, UNEMPLOYED WORKERS, UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFIT, UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS, UNIVERSITIES, UNIVERSITY DEGREE, UNIVERSITY GOVERNANCE, UNIVERSITY STUDENTS, VOCATIONAL EDUCATION, VOCATIONAL TRAINING, WAGE SUBSIDY, WAGE SUBSIDY PROGRAMS, WORK EXPERIENCE, WORK FORCE, WORKER, WORKING HOURS, YOUNG PEOPLE, YOUNG WORKERS, YOUTH EMPLOYMENT, YOUTH LABOR, YOUTH PARTICIPATION, YOUTH POPULATION,
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2009/09/16280982/bulgaria-raising-skills-employment-growth-convergence https://hdl.handle.net/10986/12544
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