Has the Government's First Employment Financing Project Failed?

The Government's project on financing first employment in 2016 did not yield expected results, according to indicators so far, which the FBiH Government is reluctant to discuss.

Of the planned 50 million KM to assist companies that open new jobs in the FBiH area, about 26 million was spent on the project in 2016, or just over 50 percent of the funds, confirmed for Patria from the FBiH Employment Bureau.

The shortcomings of the project were also pointed out by the Center for Civil Initiatives (CCI), in the report 'State of the Nation', which they recently presented in Sarajevo. The report states that with this project, the Government directly burdened the federal budget and also distorted the real situation on the labor market.

- By implementing the Government's Decree on first employment during 2016, about 3,500 (out of the planned 8,000) persons employed in the real sector were registered as newly employed, and they will receive (minimum) salary from the budget, which directly distorts the real situation on the labor market, burdens the budget, and presents an incomplete indicator of new jobs in the real sector – warned from CCI.

Professor of Economics Dr. Svetlana Cenić told Patria that she followed the Government's project to encourage employment, but that the Government did not consistently adhere to the decision. A large number of companies that employed workers under this program have not received the incentive from the Government, or receive it with difficulty, which opens the possibility of lawsuits.

- I warned about this problem last year, but the Government did not take this problem seriously – said Dr. Cenić.

The Employment Service of the Sarajevo Canton also confirmed that there are problems related to the Government's project of financing first employment.

- Some companies have called and warn that payments are late. Employment bureaus cannot do anything about that. We only perform the part related to administrative tasks – said from the Employment Service of the Sarajevo Canton.

There were no excessive results from previous similar Government projects either. Only ten percent of workers remained in jobs after the end of Government financing. It is even stranger that the Government embarked on the same project in 2016.