1. The position of refugees in the labour market Tanja Pavlov, MSc November 2008

2. Research of Group 484 and Strategic Marketing – Donor UNDP  December 2006  Sample of 500 refugees from all over Serbia  Only working age population 15-65 included  “Snow Ball” sampling method  The sample has better socio-demographic characteristics than the overall refugee population

3. Sample  Good education status:  More persons with university education in the sample of refugees (17%) compared to the general population (11%)  Secondary education – 67% compared to 41% in the general population  Urban population – 80% (45% from city centre, 35% from suburbs)  More men in the sample 56%

4. The position of refugees in the labour market  Activity rate: 78.4% (general population 68.4%)  More entrepreneurs and self-employed  Recruited in informal and supplementary jobs  Significantly higher unemployment rate in spite of the activity  30.6% in the refugee population  20.8% in the general population

5. Employment figures  83.5% in the status of unemployment longer than one year, 68% longer than 5 years  Women are in the less favourable situation than men (employment rate 47% : 60%)  Among the employed population, 27% work for employers without a formal work contract  37% are informally self-employed – without registered enterprises or business  Most are employed in the private sector 58.9%

6. Employment by fields of economic activity Refugees are less employed in agriculture, industry, mining and energy production, education, social security and health Significant presence in trade, hotels and restaurants, tourism, construction, craftsmanship and personal services

7. Employment according to level of qualification ¼ of persons with university education work in jobs at the corresponding level, and another ¼ work in jobs requiring secondary education skills 13% of persons with secondary vocational education work in jobs requiring low level skills or no skills The necessity to work in jobs below one’s qualifications due to reasons of economic subsistence

8. Refugees and NES Refugees do not confide in institutions but turn to their own strategies of job seeking 70% do not recognize the existence of institutions for job placement 60.4% has never been registered in NES Out of the unemployed ones, 49% is registered in NES 90% are registered for the purpose of job seeking and 6% for health and social insurance

9. The unemployed and the non- registered 21.1% stated that they cannot register in NES because they do not have the citizenship or some other document – refugees are not informed that citizenship is not a precondition for registration in NES Lack of awareness of the significance of NES: 19.3% of them believe that they cannot benefit from it 10.5% of them are not informed properly

10. Participation in ALMM 17.2% heard about NES programmes Very small number of them have been included in some of the programmes (1-3%) The best rated programmes are active job seeking training and foreign languages courses 40% of them are interested in starting their own business, but interest in NES programmes is lacking

11. Conclusions Refugee population as a resource –Good education structure –Particularly proactive and flexible –Interested in self-employment Institutional support mechanisms should be included in employment strategies Reduce the vulnerability of this population

12. Thank you ! GROUP 484 10, Gračanička St. B e l g r a d e Tel./Fax. + 381 11 2631-445, 2632-544 E – mail: office@grupa484.org.rs Web-site: www.grupa484.org.rsoffice@grupa484.org.rswww.grupa484.org.rs