Labour economics

The increase in the minimum wage is a positive development. The value of labor was one of those areas that took the brunt of the internal devaluation during Greece's economic crisis. 

But cultivating an economic environment that will create high-paying jobs requires much more complex and painstaking efforts.

BELGRADE - According to the latest labour force survey, Serbia had an employed population of 2.9 mln last year - up by 64,700 or by 2.3 pct y-o-y - and the employment rate was up from 48.6 pct in 2021 to 50.3 pct in 2022.

Digital job cards in banks and supermarkets with more than 250 employees are ushered in today. At this initial stage the Labor Ministry measure concerns 121,000 workers and 53 businesses. It will then be extended to insurance companies, industry and gradually to the entire spectrum of the economy.

The increase of the minimum wage must be done in accordance with the business environment, otherwise it will lead to layoffs and everything will turn against the people, Labour Minister Raluca Turcan said on Thursday in a press conference.

Tax exempting the minimum wage could be a solution for keeping the workforce in the country, and such measure will start on January 1, 2022 in a private sector, which could be the hospitality industry, Minister of the Economy Claudiu Nasui told a news conference on Wednesday. "The labour shortage has been an old problem of Romania, before the pandemic.

Ljubljana – The Employers’ Association is not supporting the Labour Ministry’s proposal to partly cover the minimum wage rise for employers for a limited period of time since it thinks such a measure would offset less than 40% of the increase in labour costs. The organisation urges a better solution.

The minimum wage in Bulgaria will become BGN 650. From 1 January 2021, it will rise by 6.6% compared to this year, the government has decided.

In 2019, average hourly labour costs in the whole economy (excluding agriculture and public administration) were estimated to be €27.7 in the European Union of 27 Member States (EU) and €31.4 in the euro area.

By the end of the 1980s, some believed that this system of governance, which engendered economic success and political stability, had won the day against any alternative. Communist and fascist authoritarianism were discredited. A mood of triumphalism set in, breeding complacency. But things look a lot less rosy for liberal democrats today.

The increase in hirings of private sector salary workers has started to slow, generating fears of a reversal of the rise in employment.