3 THIRD WORKING GROUP “EMPLOYMENT” Figure 9. Working Group " Employment", facilitator Dillon Berjani In Kosovo, two out of three youngsters are unemployed and only every eighth woman is employed. 1/3 of the youth aged 15 – 25 are not employed, nor attending education or any training. The level of legal employment among youth reaches only 8,5% and majority of the employed persons are not working in their professions. More than 20 thousand university graduates are jobless. This is the situation of the youth today, according to the statistics from the Kosovo Agency for Statistics(KAS). Problems Fear of unemployment and corruption – two sides of one medal The problem of unemployment from the political aspect is connected directly with the presence of corruption in employment and its less sophisticated form – the nepotism. Many youth do not get any jobs because the selection of candidates is not based on meritocracy. Lack of strategic planning for economy – high unemployment Lack of the government strategy for creation of new jobs, that is, the lacking of a plan, a vision from the government makes the latter one take ad hoc not well­thought decisions and as a consequence of this, there is no action taken against unemployment. No full integration in international sphere – no recognicion of diplomas Absence of visa free regime and the risk from the non­recognition of diplomas from Kosovo(as a consequence of losing the membership to EQAR) makes Kosovo youth not being able to move freely.These reasons lower the possibilities for studying and working abroad. Incompetence of employment agency Unemployment is also a consequence due to the inability of the Kosovo Employment Agency to do more, as well as lack of information about any vacancies. But this Agency should serve as a connecting bridge between the active job­seekingunemployed persons and the vacant job positions. A vicious circle: No practice no internship – no internship no practice The condition for the youth when they want to be hired as interns is to have some previous experience but absence of any monitoring during this practical work does add to having fewer chances in getting effective experience at work. Too much consumption – too few production The problems related to unemployment were the lacking of jobs and the orientation of the state towards consumption and not towards production of goods. If the state would decide to strengthen the sector of production of local goods, this would have a positive impact for jobs and thus having a more stable economy based on a better balance of im- and export. Development of entrepreneurship and administrative support in small business According to youth, small businesses are a good opportunity for new jobs, but local authorities have adopted policies that are not suitable for these businesses, so even this opportunity is at risk. 17