Serbia’s New Growth Agenda : Job and Training-Ready

Serbia now has an exceptional policy opportunity to promote skills development and create a productive future workforce and a prosperous economy. With its population aging and the nature of work changing in a technologically transforming and globalizing economy, a highly skilled Serbian workforce would help generate growth in productivity. A more productive economy will then help Serbia to approach the living standards of its Western European neighbors as it moves forward on the path to EU accession. For Serbia, this is a policy imperative. Serbia needs a surge in job creation, which will have to come from higher private sector dynamism and address persistent labor market challenges. Sustained employment increases will require on the demand side a boost in private sector job creation; and on the supply side reducing barriers and disincentives to work and improving worker skills. In Serbia, labor market status is associated with educational attainment (Figure 2). Higher literacy is associated with getting more skilled jobs (white-collar occupations at all skill levels) and often a job that is of higher quality.