Category: Author’s post

IMF includes Georgia in the list of 10 countries with highest unemployment decrease over 12 years

The World Economic Review of the International Monetary Fund has ranked Georgia ninth among the top 10 countries in the world with the highest percentage decrease in unemployment over the last 12 years.
The decrease of unemployment in Georgia is estimated by the IMF by 11 percentage points and equals to 15.7 percent by 2024, compared to the levels in 2012.
The IMF reports that the unemployment rate in the country was the highest in 2010, 2011 and 2012 at the level of about 27 percent.
As the IMF said, Georgia reached the highest percentage point of unemployment increase in the world in the period up to 2012. Unemployment increased in that 12-year period by more than16 percentage points.

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Employers get more benefit from minimum wage than employees

Not only workers and their rights but also bind employers are protected by laws in Serbia. Nevertheless, protective work gear and properly secured workplaces are not available for many of these workers today. 42 workers died at work last year. This year six workers died and four people got serious injuries with a fatal outcome from January to March.
Ljubisav Orbović, president of the Association of Independent Trade Unions of Serbia, finds these figures unacceptable. He also adds that the unions asked the state to increase relevant inspection supervision.
Orbović points out that the authorities complained about the lack of inspectors to carry out such frequent inspections. The most problematic sector is the construction.
According to him, redundancies are not that frequent in Serbia due to the workforce deficit.
Serbia has nothing against foreign employers coming to the country because Serbian workers also go abroad as they pay higher wages. But the fact that foreign companies come and lower the price of the work is not acceptable. Such workers find themselves into the background in the labour market and often work without documents, unfortunately.
Concerning negotiating the adjustment of the minimum wage twice a year, Orbović says that there will certainly be negotiations this year as well, but that “they are not a decisive factor for determining the minimum labour price”.
He also adds that adjusting the minimum wage twice a year is a matter of inflation. Adjusting the minimum wage once a year is sufficient, in case if the inflation is within normal limits.
According to Orbović, employers get the opportunity to plan their businesses with the view of having cheap labour at their disposal due to the minimum wage. He adds that the minimum wage corresponds to the minimum consumer basket in Europe, but here that is not the case.

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Manual labour is wide-spread in Serbia

Modul research on work skills reports that performing heavy physical work takes most of the working time of Serbian men and women with high school education, aged between 30 and 59. Nevertheless, social skills are used at work more by women, while using digital devices leads the way of highly educated men.
As the Modul research on work skills reports, “communication with people from the same company or organization” was the most used work skill in Serbia. It means that about 90 percent of respondents are engaged in verbal business communication with colleagues during working hours and approximately 70 percent of them in communication with people outside the company or organization.
Heavy physical work engages about 60 percent of workers, of which 26 percent do heavy labour half of the working time or more and 31 percent less than half of the working time.
Cognitive skills, such as reading instructions and working on calculations involving fractions, percentages, and more complex mathematical functions, are not used at work at all by more than 50 percent of men while only about 5 percent of workers use them most of their working time.
The situation with women does not differ much. Cognitive abilities are not used at all by more than half of the respondents and they are used during most of the working time by only 6 or 7 percent of them.
The difference between the genders in manual skills is more significant. The number of women who spend most of their working time on manual tasks is about 18 percent, while that number among men is about 5 percent higher (about 23 percent).
The president of the Association of Free and Independent Trade Unions (ASNS), Ranka Savić, says that manual labour is mostly required by low-budget foreign investments that are coming to Serbia, so these data are easy to explain. Overworking and spending one hundred percent of their working time in physically demanding jobs are among many workers’ complaints. It’s easy to set one of many cable factories as an example. The entire working day is spent by the workers standing, without ever having a chance to sit down and rest. Monotonous activities are performed by the employees with their hands constantly engaged. In retail the situation doesn’t differ much: the workers unload the goods, stack them on the shelves and operate cash registers all their working day.
According to Miloš Turinski, PR of the job search website Infostud, jobs such as administration and retail are mostly applied for by women, while more difficult physical jobs are mostly opted for by men. He also highlights that Serbia currently has the biggest deficit of trade and IT workers while speaking about the demand for labour.

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Significant Growth and Employment Surge was demonstrated by Serbia’s Gaming Industry in 2023

The results of the research from the Serbian Video Game Industry Association (SGA) presented at the Serbian Chamber of Commerce (PKS) show a 17 percent increase made by Serbia’s gaming industry in 2023. It earned more than 175 million euros, and also a rise in employment was seen.
According to Mihailo Vesović, Director of Strategic Analysis, Services and Internationalisation at the PKS, original products are being developed by 57 percent of companies. Games produced in Serbia have been purchased or downloaded more than one hundred million times.
Vesović said that the gaming industry got a positive impact from significant geostrategic changes, which is a vital link between the creative, social and technical sciences. He highlighted that Serbian gamers’ appearance in Cologne last year got an astonishing support and this continuity will be maintained this year. They had also signed an agreement with the Association as a confirmation and official recognition of close and successful cooperation.
The exceptional growth in employment (by 98 percent) is the most notable change from 2022. It is estimated that 4,300 gaming professionals are working in Serbia now.
The PKS attributes this growth to the large number of gaming professionals and their families who have relocated to Serbia from Russia, Ukraine and Belarus and to the fact that some of the world’s leading companies, such as Wargaming, Playri, and Sperasoft now have their largest offices in Serbia. They expect this influx of knowledge and experience to significantly impact the local gaming industry.
The creation of 475 new positions, with women comprising 28 percent of the industry’s workforce, is also included in this year plans.

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Uzbekistan’s citizens are warned of document scams amidst Kazakhstan employment drive

There has been a warning of scams for Uzbekistan’s Citizens going to Kazakhstan for employment or currently working there. Some people posed as embassy or consulate representatives and claimed money and passports for the processing of documents.
Uzbeks heading to Kazakhstan for work are cautioned against such fraudsters by the Foreign Labor Migration Agency. Workers are instructed not to trust these individuals or hand over personal documents.
Individuals falsely representing themselves as embassy or consulate staff targeted Uzbek citizens seeking employment in Kazakhstan or engaging in labor activities there. The fraudsters attempted to take money and passports under the pretense of arranging official documentation.
Citizens are advised not to fall for these scams. The Migration Agency has also emphasized that individuals must apply in person at Public Service Centers for work permits or temporary residency permits.

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Amended tax code to annul tax debts of 145,842 individuals was approved by the Parliament

Amendments into the tax code of the country that will see tax debts totalling ₾591 million ($221.53mln) written off for 145,842 individuals and establishment of temporary tax reliefs for certain transactions were approved by the Parliament of Georgia on Wednesday. According to Paata Kvizhinadze, the Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee, all private entities, […]

Jovanovic expects the number of experts in ICT sector to grow to at least 140,000 by 2027

As Mihailo Jovanovic, the minister of information and telecommunications of Serbia, estimated at the opening of the 23rd Technobank Conference in Belgrade, close to 110,000 experts work in the ICT sector today, and at least 140,000 are expected to work in it by 2027.
The results and the upcoming activities in the development of the ICT sector in Serbia were presented by Jovanovic at the opening of the conference. He also pointed out that the continuation of investments in the most modern digital, TC and innovative infrastructure was an integral part of the “Leap into the Future – Serbia 2027” plan.
Jovanovic reminded about the efforts toward a further modernization through the expansion of the State Data Center in Kragujevac through the construction of Block 2, with a capacity of 16 MW, as well as about the construction of the innovation district in that city.
According to him, members of the IT community will be able to work, and the National Center for Information Security and the future fifth science-technology park in Serbia will have a special place there, in that district, unique in the region.
As Jovanovic said, the entire complex of one of the most significant state capital investments would be an important incentive for new future investments and the creation of new jobs.
The minister also promised that they will complete the construction of Lozionica in Belgrade, the center of creative industries, information technologies, eGovernment and digitization, by the end of the year. This will make of Serbia a regional innovative and creative hub, a center of excellence, urban and dynamic life and creativity.

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Visa-free travel agreement has been officially signed between China and Georgia

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Ilia Darchiashvili, and the Ambassador of China to Georgia, Chou Tsien, signed the agreement.
Georgia’s citizens will be allowed to travel to China without a visa and stay in the country for 30 days at a time as soon as the agreement enters into force after the two states complete internal legal procedures.

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Tourism and bilateral ties between Kazakhstan and Macau will be boosted by inking visa-free agreement

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan reported that a landmark agreement introducing a visa-free regime between the two regions has been inked by Kazakhstan and Macau in a move aimed at fostering closer ties and promoting tourism and trade.
Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to the People’s Republic of China (PRC) Shakhrat Nuryshev and Secretary for Administration and Justice of the Macau Special Administrative Region of China André Cheong Weng Chon signed the agreement aimed at facilitating smoother travel between the two territories.
According to a statement released by Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry, the visa-free arrangement will allow citizens of both regions to visit each other for up to 14 days without the need for a visa. Nevertheless, the implementation of the agreement depends on the completion of domestic procedures in both countries.
Optimism regarding the agreement and acknowledgment of its potential to bolster bilateral cooperation across various sectors, including trade, economy, culture, and tourism is expressed by the foreign ministry. They anticipate that the flow of people between Kazakhstan and Macau will increase due to an easier access for travelers and that greater exchanges and collaboration will be fostered.
Macau’s plethora of grand casinos and shopping destinations makes of this vibrant special administrative region in Southern China, renowned for its bustling entertainment industry, “Las Vegas of the East”. Macau’s allure as a tourist destination for Kazakhstani travelers is expected to be further enhanced due to the visa-free regime.
Kazakhstan’s earlier agreement with China in November 2023, introducing a visa-free regime between the two neighboring countries, is followed by this recent development. That agreement excluded regions such as Hong Kong and Macau and facilitated travel for Kazakhstanis only to mainland China for various purposes, including business, tourism, and medical treatment.
Nowadays, 34 countries provide citizens of Kazakhstan with a visa-free access. This achievement is a testament to the nation’s efforts to promote international cooperation and facilitate global mobility.

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