Sarajevo: 542 people lost their jobs in 12 days, 10,000 layoffs expected on April 1st

SARAJEVO, (Patria) – As BiH faces its biggest post-war crisis in the fight against coronavirus, which has already claimed 12 lives, all spheres of life will feel the consequences.

The economy of BiH is taking one of the hardest hits, and since mid-March when restrictive measures began, most companies, unable to operate daily, were forced to cease their activities, thus leaving workers without a livelihood. Some reduced workers' salaries, others sent them on annual leave, while several thousand have already lost their jobs and income. 

The full consequences will be clearer by mid-April, and hundreds of those who have lost their jobs in the past two weeks are already registered with cantonal employment bureaus.

On March 18th, the KS Employment Service had 58,029 people registered, while on March 30th, the number rose to 58,571, an increase of 542 people. 

Most of the newly registered individuals state that they were laid off due to the crisis caused by the coronavirus.

A few days ago, a group of about thirty Sarajevo hoteliers and restaurateurs, who have been most affected by the coronavirus pandemic, appealed to the authorities to ease their business operations by paying contributions for workers or introducing a moratorium on loan repayments. However, there have been no official relief measures for entrepreneurs to date, and starting tomorrow, April 1st, the number of unemployed could increase by 10,000 people.