Branch member organizations of the Bulgarian Industrial Association insist on forming a new working group of experts to prepare proposals for the elaboration of a new Labor Code. The challenges of the labor market and the skills of the workforce will be the focus of the discussion during a national conference organized by the business. Representatives of the social and educational ministry, state agencies and trade unions will also take part in the forum.
Tomcho Tomov, Director of the National Competence Assessment Center commented for the Bulgarian National Radio that the Bulgarian economy and modern industrial relations need new regulation, including for solving problems related to labor shortages.
“The Labor Code has stayed somewhere in the 1970s. First, there must be greater flexibility in labor contracts, more opportunities and different ways of working from distance, part-time, work in two places, etc. We need to motivate, to stimulate people more, to create a working environment that engages them, to motivate them, to keep them, to encourage them to develop.”
Tomov noted that “there are 300 000 young people in Bulgaria who neither study, nor work. That’s 19% of young people. A new model of governance is needed, a new workforce policy. This is recognized by employers, but they say that these investments are risky. Often, when they qualify someone, he or she leaves and go to another company or abroad. In addition, the employer’s investments have to be protected. Currently employees do not have any commitments to maintaining their qualification.”
Tomov also touched on the problem of the qualification of people over 50 and in retirement age.
“There is also a lot of unused potential there,” says Tomcho Tomov.
