On October 4th, 2017, meeting of the working group for "green jobs" was held, attended by relevant representatives from public institutions, the business community and trade unions. The meeting discussed the situation with the workforce in the construction sector and the measures to be taken in the short and long term. The Energy Efficiency Directive (2012/27 / EU) requires the qualification of the expert workforce and recommends that governments use the potentials for employment in the construction sector in order to contribute to greater energy stability.
These are the key points and conclusions from the Working Group for Green Jobs:
– There is a major shortage of labor (unskilled and skilled) in the construction sector and this can be crucial for its further development of the construction sector;
– Urgent measures are necessary to stimulate workers, to train and to begin work on facilities (emergency measures);
– Due to the critical state there is a large informal economy in the construction sector;
– One of the reasons for the socially vulnerable groups to not enter into the formal economy is the social care;
– To take in consideration the law that regulates social security and to review opportunities for loss of social security. It was proposed to design a measure where the worker doesn’t lose social security even in case of employment within a certian period (e.g. 1 year);
– Increased efficiency of the Agency of Employment is essential for more job openings and finding applicants for the positions;
– Include educational institutions in the working group, in particular the Construction Schools (GUC), but also the Ministry of Education and Science, and the Center for Vocational Education and Training;
– Non-governmental organizations are important for the activation of the workers and the young unemployed people;
– To set wage standards for workers, ie to have an insight into the potential for income if they acquire qualified knowledge and experience, for them to be clear that the salary progress will be in line with the years of experience in order to motivate young people;
– To propose a measure that will stimulate the unemployed to undergo training, and at the same time to ensure work with the employers for those who will undergo training with clear conditions and specific salary. A measure can also be proposed that will stimulate the salary of the employee in the firm;
– A draft measure for stimulating a higher salary of workers can be "stimulation in contributions" (example: for a salary of 20,000 Denars, to pay contributions as per salary of 12,000 denars);
– Consider the possibility for the workers to register as craftsmen;
– Certified workers should be published on a website by тхе municipalities, divided by their activities and craftsmanship, to have a mechanism by which workers would lose the license if there are many complaints about their work;
– Poor practice in secondary vocational schools is also a factor of poor quality of the potential workers;
– Career centers should target the primary schools and to work with students from 6th to 9th grade;
– The workbook where the experiences of the employee were recorded was a positive case for monitoring the knowledge of the employee. Take in consideration about such a system of records;
– The voucher system for workers is seen as a proposal for formalization of the informal economy;
– The import of labor is a real opportunity that the private sector is considering (with the vouchers it could be regulated);
– Consider the role of municipalities in contributing for resolving the problem;
The working group is consisted of representatives from the following institutions and organizations:
Environmental Youth Organisation Go Green, Agency of Employment of Macedonia, Ministry of Labor and Social Policy, International Labor Organization (ILO), Constructional Chamber at the Chambers of Commerce, Construction Association at the Macedonian Chamber of Commerce, Оrganization of employers of Macedonia, Federation of Trade Unions of Macedonia, Business Confederation of Macedonia, Training Center "Craft Master" and IME Swiss contact.