Being unemployed in Bulgaria and relying on assistance from the state is a nightmare for a great number of people working in various spheres. The good news is that trade in Bulgaria has been improving and it seems that Europe has been slowly overcoming the economic crisis. Companies open new offices in Bulgaria and despite the fact they are not huge investors, they help in reducing the level of unemployment in this country. Eurostat data shows unemployment in June was 9.6 percent, down from 11 percent a year earlier.

With the expansion of business and commercial contacts with foreign companies, the need for highly qualified workforce increases. It turns out that there is lack of experts in a number of spheres but most needed are engineers and technologists in manufacturing plants. During the traditional annual Employer of the Year event, employers thanked officials from the labour bureaus in Bulgaria for their cooperation in finding skilled workers. “Employer of the Year” is organised by the Labour Agency and its aim is to pay attention to recent trends in the relations between employers, workers and mediators. During the forum employers most often complained about the lack of qualified workers. Most managers vowed to create new jobs next year and even said they would find a place for everyone, as long as applicants had the necessary qualifications. Emil Ionchev - commercial director of the railway carriage factory in the town in Septemvri /Southern Bulgaria/ vowed to do the same. He grabbed the prize in the category for an employer who hired the biggest number of people from municipalities with high level of unemployment.

"For us, this award is recognition, but it is also another occasion that makes us say we could hire twice as many people. The problem is that there are few skilled workers. This is a specific sphere of work that depends on people’s skills. It is a pity we lack mechanical engineers. One of the reasons is the situation of education in Bulgaria but also the low salaries experts receive. All engineers focus on electronics and computers because salaries in that sector are high. In our sector we invest 100,000 euros each year in training of the staff. We also provide trainings abroad. In 2008, we had 1,100 employees. Because of the crisis in 2010 he already had 400 employees. Since 2013 onwards we have been marking stable growth in revenues and we hope to reach the 2008 level of production but with fewer employees. During the past years we have managed to increase the work efficiency.”

Maria Angelova is a manager of a German company producing interior components for vehicles with an office in Bulgaria. She received a prize in the category for an employer who hired the biggest number of people in disadvantaged social position:

"Around 1,100 people work in the enterprise as a whole. We keep hiring people with low qualification, or those from minority groups or permanently unemployed. We organise full trainings for them and teach them a profession. Most of them operate sewing machines. This is a laborious process, but quality is very important and depends on the workers’ skills. We invest a lot in these people as most of them had lost working habits and we strive to motivate them to work. We work in competitive conditions. There are a few big employers in the town of Botevgrad and it is difficult to find skilled workers. The business of all large enterprises is currently on the rise. In the past year we marked a significant growth in production and sales," Maria Angelova, manager from Botevgrad says.

English: Alexander Markov