The world economic crisis has affected much harder the labour markets of the countries, which are either EU-member states, or are much closer to their EU accession. However, the labour markets of the other group of countries have already been hit hard because of other reasons, such as war consequences and the effects of other kinds of domestic conflicts. The employment rate among the working age population (15-64 years) varies in an extremely wide range - between 25% in Kosovo and 60% in Bulgaria. Long-term unemployment is typical for the region and usually affects persons of low qualification and skills and/or people of qualifications and skills, which are no longer in demand on the market. The economic crisis and a number of specific domestic reasons have decreased the chances of the vulnerable groups to re-enter the labour market. In most of the countries, specific labour market policies, focused on the vulnerable groups, have been put in place. Those policies are usually funded by the government budgets, as most of the countries in the region are not EU-members yet, or their negotiation process for EU accession has not started altogether. However, the share of support received from EU funds has already begun to increase for all these countries. The main recommendations are focussed on training and life-long-learning, new employment opportunities, including professional orientation, carrier planning, and mobility and flexibility of the labour market itself.