The guests of the Rezime show were Ernis Imamović, Assistant Federal Minister of Labor and Social Policy, and Haris Čuljević, spokesperson of the Employment Agency of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Čuljević explained that according to the data of the FBiH Employment Office, at the end of 2023, there were about 270,000 registered unemployed persons, which compared to the beginning of 2023, is less by about 15,000 thousand persons.
“Based on these data and the positive trends that have been present in recent years, we can say that there are still positive trends in the labor market – we have a constant decrease in the number of unemployed in FBiH. Accordingly, the number of employees increases every year – there are around 545,000 employees, which is an increase of some 10,000 compared to the previous year,” said Čuljević.
He added that the measures of the active employment policy implemented by the Federal Employment Agency in cooperation with the cantonal part contributed to the number of unemployed being lower than in previous years.
“In 2023, we implemented the measures of the active employment policy through which around 12,000 people were employed,” he stated.
The statistic of 270,000 unemployed does not tell what the reality is, Imamović assessed. He says the reality is completely different.
“A lot of unemployed people are only registered in order to exercise certain rights, the most common being the right to health insurance. We also have certain rights related to social protection, some municipalities even provide certain subsidies when it comes to heating, and cantons provide social benefits. A huge number of people have signed up for a specific interest. When the employer turns to the employment service, he realizes that it is not even close to that. Employers encounter a sea of problems. When they try to contact unemployed people, there are situations where people call from America, they are not even here, or they are angry that they are being contacted at all. A certain number of persons work in the gray economy, earn income, but are not registered as employed persons. These are serious challenges that BiH is facing,” said Imamović.
He says that the estimate is that two-thirds of the people on the records are there for some other reason, and a third are actual job seekers.
“There are situations where people abuse the status issue and as an unemployed person who works somewhere, I speak from practice, you have a gentleman who works for a company from abroad, here he is treated as an unemployed person, he does not hide it, he says that he does it because his family obtains the right to health insurance through him. This is a serious problem”, believes Imamović.
He added:
“We adopted an employment strategy that covers the period until 2030. It is very important for us to implement a certain number of measures, among other things, to adopt a new law on mediation in employment. He has the task of moving health insurance out of employment services. All the countries of the region function like this”.
Imamović added that the law has been prepared, it has been sent to the Government, some other opinions are awaited, and it should be in the Parliament very soon.
“Also, they need services to implement the law. “We will probably have to change the regulations in the field of health insurance, because people who lose that right through the bureau, have to exercise it in some other way,” he said.
Only unemployed people who are actively looking for work should be on the services, he is categorical.
“A solution must be found, FBiH is the only territory in Europe where the problem of health insurance through public employment services is as it is. We are advocating for the relocation of health insurance, but no one should be left without it,” added Čuljević.
When it comes to deficit occupations, Čuljević emphasizes that a survey was conducted at the end of 2023, the sample was around 1,200 employers from FBiH.
“We have obtained data on the occupations in demand in 2024 and 2025. When it comes to secondary education, the occupations in demand are – tradesman, welder, driver, cook, waiter, seamstress, CNC operator. “When it comes to highly qualified people, the IT sector is the most sought-after, and there are almost none of them on the unemployment register,” Čuljević revealed, Federalna writes.
