Layoff

Labor Ministry figures released on Tuesday point to a dramatic increase in layoffs over hirings last month, making it the worst January for job openings in the last 15 years.

BELGRADE - Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government Ana Brnabic on Tuesday announced for 2017 a wave of job cuts in public enterprises, which now have around 147,000 employees, adding that around 5,000 public administration jobs would be shed this year.

Roughly 37.667 salaried jobs were lost in the private sector in November 2016 according to the information system ERGANI, in what is considered the worst employment performance of the last five years, with more layoffs than hirings.

Salaried employment in the private sector slowed down in November, data released by the Labor Ministry's Ergani system showed on Monday.

The system showed that 157,385 people were hired in November and those who left their jobs came to 195,052 people, out of whom 66,978 people left their positions voluntarily, while 128,074 were laid off or did not renew their contracts.

Reduced working hours or even suspension, with the state paying unemployment benefit and covering workers' social security while they are not working, are the proposals of a panel of experts on labor issues.

Workers at closed Cherno More mine, in the region of Burgas, blocked on Tuesday morning the road between Burgas and the resort of Slanchev Bryag (Sunny Beach) to protest against the delay in payment of wages and compensations.

Work at the mine ended earlier in April, leaving its workforce of nearly 300 people without jobs and with unpaid salaries for March.

New claims for U.S. unemployment insurance benefits held steady last week, close to a four-decade low as the jobs market firms, the Labor Department reported on Nov. 12.

Initial jobless claims, an indicator of the pace of layoffs, totaled 276,000 in the week ending November 7, the same as the previous week.

Reporters from three dailies, Dnevnik, Untrisnki Vesnik and Vest, have expressed anger over a managerial decision to cut their wages by up to 30 per cent.

Most dispute the explanation that their wages must be cut for the next six months "due to the bad economic situation in the country, which has reflected on the company".

Mario Reljanovic, from the Union University in Belgrade, told BIRN on Thursday that a forthcoming World Bank analysis was likely to establish the criteria for announced layoffs in the public sector.

The Serbian parliament on Monday discussed the government's legislative proposal for public sector employment which envisages that around 9,000 people will be laid off by the end of 2015, most of them in the education, justice and healthcare sectors.