Giving people better opportunities to participate in the labour market is a key policy objective in all OECD and EU countries. More and better employment increases disposable income, strengthens economic growth, addresses labour shortages and improves well-being. Well-tailored labour market and social protection policies are a key factor in promoting the creation of high-quality jobs and increasing activity rates. Such policies need to address pressing structural challenges, such as rapid population ageing, labour shortages and evolving skill needs, driven by digitalisation and the green transition. They should also foster social inclusion and mobilise all of society.
Active labour market policies (ALMPs) and public employment services (PES) play a key role in helping countries address skills and labour shortages while promoting inclusive labour markets. PES are well placed to act as intermediaries between labour demand and supply and promote labour mobility by reaching out to jobseekers, people out of the labour market, workers and employers, co‑operating with other actors in the PES ecosystem and providing timely, targeted and effective support to those in need. Megatrends such as ageing, globalisation, and the green and digital transitions have brought fundamental changes to the role of ALMPs and PES in supporting the economy and promoting labour market inclusiveness. PES are called to serve a more diverse set of clients, identify and anticipate skills shortages and address the employability of jobseekers, and prevent unemployment. At the same time, tight budgets call for effective and efficient use of resources and a strong accountability framework. To address these challenges, many countries are implementing or considering reforms of their systems of ALMPs and PES.
The OECD is carrying out a set of reviews of labour market and social protection policies to encourage greater labour market participation and promote better employment opportunities, with a special focus on the most disadvantaged who face the greatest barriers to finding quality jobs. This includes a series of country studies, Connecting People with Jobs, which provide an assessment of how well each country’s ALMPs and PES help all groups to move into productive and rewarding jobs, and policy recommendations for improving their effectiveness. This report on Bulgaria is the nineteenth in that series.
PES across the EU and the OECD – including the Bulgarian National Employment Agency (NEA) – invest in refining their operational processes and services, to effectively adapt to and cope with the evolving dynamic of labour markets. This report assesses the NEA’s current operating model by identifying key strengths that can be leveraged and highlighting the weaknesses. Building on this assessment as well as good practices from other PES, the report proposes recommendations for a new operating model. These recommendations span across the NEA’s core processes and the services it delivers to its clients – jobseekers, workers and employers. Particular emphasis is placed on addressing the challenges and opportunities of the green and digital transitions.
The report is prepared as part of the technical assistance project “Optimising processes and services at the National Employment Agency (NEA) of Bulgaria”. The project was funded by the European Union via the Technical Support Instrument, and implemented by the OECD, in co‑operation with the European Commission.