Comparative Analysis of Labour Markets in South East Europe

Seven years after the EU enlargement, when Romania and Bulgaria joined EU, and a year later that Croatia became a member country, other five South East European countries (Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Macedonia) are waiting for the membership in European Union. Labour markets of SEE must adapt to fast changes of European labour market where opportunities for life-long jobs will be very rare and job mobility will be even more intensified in the future. In order to find adequate answers to these challenges labour markets in the region should become more market-driven. Process of transition in most of the countries of the region started nearly 25 years ago and countries in the SEE region have been trying to implement the best solutions and practices into local labour markets and to move in the right direction. The main purpose of this paper is to make comparison of labour markets among the countries in the region of South East Europe, especially comparison of non-EU members with the labour markets of Bulgaria and Romania, from the aspects of gender, age and other characteristics, and to draw the conclusions about the changes on the labour market of the region in the last decade when it comes to the employment, unemployment and participation rates and other labour market indicators. Through implementation of principal components analysis and factor analysis changes of regional labour market in last decade were monitored and key factors were identified. Comparative analysis of labour markets in the region was made and conclusions were drawn about differences in the case of key labour market indicators.