Against the backdrop of Bulgaria’s labour market outlook, this chapter presents an overview of the challenges faced by the country’s National Employment Service, with specific emphasis on the green and digital transformations. It provides a discussion of ongoing reform efforts and recommendations to improve operational procedures as well as engagement with jobseekers and employers alike.
Optimising Processes and Services at Bulgaria’s National Employment Agency
Abstract
At first sight, Bulgaria’ labour market is currently in a favourable position. Since 2010, employment rates among those aged 15‑64 have steadily increased and reached 70.9% in 2024 – a historic high and on par with those in the European Union (EU) and OECD areas. In parallel, the unemployment rate has decreased from double‑digit numbers to 4.2%, below the EU and OECD area weighted averages.
At the same time, Bulgaria’s labour market faces a number of labour market challenges. First, it is ageing rapidly, and more significantly than most other OECD and EU countries. In 2022, the incoming labour market cohort (15‑19 years old) was a third lower than the outgoing cohort (60‑64), one of the largest discrepancies in the EU. As a result of demographic change, Bulgaria is projected to lose one‑third of its working-age population by 2060. Significant outmigration has further exacerbated these discrepancies. In 2022, the expatriation rate to OECD countries amounted to 1.3% of the population, one of the highest among all major origin countries (OECD, 2024[1]). National figures for Germany, the main destination, suggest however a significant decline in emigration since then, coupled with growing return migration.
A second key challenge are large disparities in labour market outcomes, both across the country and across socio‑economic groups. In particular, employment rates among youth are very low. In 2023, only 19% of 15‑24 year‑olds were employed, less than half the OECD average of 44%. These low employment levels are primarily due to inactivity, rather than high participation in secondary or tertiary education (OECD, 2025[2]). With respect to regional disparities, while the labour market situation is favourable in Sofia and other economically prosperous parts of the country, remote and poor regions struggle. In Sofia, the employment rate stood at 75% in 2022, compared with 51% in Vidin in Bulgaria’s North-West, 50% in Silistra in the North-East, and 47% in Kardzhali in Bulgaria’s far South (OECD, 2025[2]).
Large disparities are also found with respect to age and education, with young and low-educated people faring poorly in international comparison – while the opposite is the case for the older and high-educated peers (OECD, 2025[2]). Only half of the low-educated are in employment, and the share of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) is above the EU and OECD averages. Employment rates of the Roma and Turkish minorities are also very low. In particular, the low level of digital skills among the Bulgarian population poses represents a significant barrier to both the expansion and effective use of digital services. According to Eurostat’s Digital Skills Indicator (DSI), in 2023 only 35.5% of Bulgarians have at least basic digital skills – significantly below the EU average and far from the EU’s 2030 target of 80%. What is more, adult learning participation in Bulgaria is extremely low – under 2% of 25‑64 year‑olds in 2022 about six times below the EU average, with virtually no engagement among Roma, low-educated, and older workers (OECD, 2025[2]).
At the same time, there are labour shortages in some sectors, and the digital and green transitions necessitate upskilling and adapting to changing labour demand. Against this backdrop, there is a large role to play for active labour market policies (ALMPs) in preparing the workforce and employers to adapt to these changes and contributing to reducing the widespread disparities. Yet, spending on ALMPs in Bulgaria stood, in 2022, at only about 0.2% of GDP, less than half the OECD average of 0.43% and has been financed through both European funds and national resources.1 Moreover, spending has been declining in recent years and remains largely concentrated on direct job creation measures (about 40% of total spending) and on employment services (about 20% of total spending) with much lower spending on training programmes.2 This indicates that there is scope to increase expenditure on ALMPs and adapt the ALMPs basket to provide additional support to jobseekers, foster greater social inclusion and alleviate labour shortages.
The main stakeholder for the provision of ALMPs, is the National Employment Agency (NEA), an executive agency under the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy (MLSP). In the face of rapid demographic shifts, the twin green and digital transitions, and persistent regional disparities in the labour market, the NEA is adapting and modernising its strategies, services, and internal capacities to remain effective and inclusive. Several actions are ongoing or planned, including under Bulgaria’s Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP).
In addition, the NEA has requested technical support from the European Union via the Technical Support Instrument to optimise its processes and services. The technical support project “Optimising processes and services at Bulgaria’s National Employment Agency” is implemented by the OECD, in co-operation with the European Commission’s Reform and Investment Task Force (EC/SG REFORM). This publication summarises the main findings of this project.
The remainder of this introductory chapter briefly describes the current situation and challenges faced by the NEA and outlines the key recommendations derived from the various activities of the project. These recommendations are intended to support the NEA to become a more agile, future‑ready institution capable of supporting jobseekers, employers, and workers alike. In particular:
Chapter 2 explores how the NEA can improve its internal workforce allocation and enhance institutional capacity to respond to the multiple simultaneous challenges it faces. It looks at how the agency can become more efficient and better positioned to deliver on its mandate, notably with respect to better staff allocation, training, and resource planning.
Chapter 3 focuses on how the NEA can better engage with jobseekers, especially vulnerable groups and those at risk of long-term unemployment. It examines how the agency can modernise its outreach, improve service accessibility, and tailor support to individual needs.
Chapter 4 then turns to the NEA’s engagement with – employers, highlighting ways to build stronger partnerships, identify labour market needs in real time, and promote skills development and matching that aligns with business demands.
Chapter 5 outlines how the NEA can play a pivotal role in supporting the workforce to adapt to new environmental standards, shifting job profiles, and emerging sectors in the context of the green transition.
Chapter 6 looks at the opportunities and challenges presented by digitalisation and artificial intelligence. It discusses how the NEA can harness new technologies to improve service delivery, streamline operations, and anticipate future labour market developments.
Together, these chapters offer a roadmap for the NEA to become an efficient, data‑informed, and client-centred organisation – well-equipped to support Bulgaria’s workforce through the ongoing transitions and challenges.
The NEA, as the main body responsible for implementing Bulgaria’s national employment policy, designs and delivers ALMPs, while engaging with jobseekers, workers and employers. With a nationwide presence through 106 local labour offices, supported by branch offices and mobile units, the NEA has a broad reach. The 2024 restructuring helped strengthen capacity of local offices by redirecting personnel from regional offices that were closed local offices. It also simplified administrative procedures, by reducing the reporting process from two steps to one. Nevertheless, some teams in both central and local offices are experiencing increased workloads due to the additional tasks taken on from the dissolved regional offices.
NEA staff are well-qualified, but many local labour offices face challenges due to high caseloads and limited staff specialisation. Although the national average number of 115 jobseekers per counsellor aligns with EU standards and has remained stable, this is not well distributed, and some offices experience excessive workloads. For example, in November 2023, counsellors in the busiest 10% of offices had to handle around 195 visits that month. Beyond the high volumes of clients – many with complex needs – counsellors spend a significant amount of time on administrative tasks, such as manually entering data into the National Database (NDB), which reduces time for quality interactions. A survey of NEA staff found that, on average, about 24% of their total working time is spent on administrative duties. Although the NEA provides some flexibility in staff organisation to adapt to local conditions – by allowing staff to organise themselves within local offices and adjust roles based on local needs -, the lack of structured specialisation, coupled with an uneven distribution of vulnerable jobseekers across offices, hinders the delivery of adequate support for those in need.
Training has mostly focused on newer NEA employees, as the NEA has only recently increased investment in staff development. Performance is reviewed twice a year through mid-term and year-end evaluations, mainly based on supervisors’ feedback. Although performance indicators exist at national and local levels, the lack of objective individual metrics limits the NEA’s ability to accurately track and reward high performance and identify and support less effective staff.
1.2.1. The jobseeker journey at the NEA is functional and evolving, yet there remain significant opportunities to enhance its effectiveness, consistency, and impact
NEA clients encompass a diverse population – not only active jobseekers with varying levels of job search intensity, but also employed individuals facing potential job loss or considering career changes.
The NEA’s approach to client engagement has been strengthened in recent years. Reforms include improved outreach efforts – including targeted initiatives for inactive individuals – personalised counselling, a promising fast-track process for candidates with high probability to find a job quickly, specific service packages for vulnerable clients, and consistent enforcement of jobseeker job-search obligations. However, significant challenges remain across the jobseeker journey.
Despite expanded outreach, in 2023, only one in five unemployed individuals were registered with the NEA. Key obstacles include the lack of clear, measurable registration targets per group and the absence of systematic evaluation of outreach plans. Outreach success also depends on factors such as individuals’ incentives to register – like access to benefits and support measures – as well as their perception and confidence in the NEA. Improved data-sharing with public institutions and recent amendments to the Employment Promotion Act have created a solid foundation for identifying inactive population groups and making sure that there is a more systematic follow up on vulnerable groups with particularly low registration.
While parts of the registration process with the NEA have been streamlined, it remains largely manual and paper-based, relying heavily on in-person document submissions. This results in a significant administrative burden for both jobseekers and NEA staff. Planned digitalisation efforts under Bulgaria’s RRP are expected to simplify the client experience, reduce errors and delays, and free up staff capacity for core services.
Counselling remains central to the NEA’s service offering. Currently, it is provided exclusively in person at local or mobile offices. Information is often gathered in stages and entered manually into the NDB, making the process time‑consuming, inefficient, and prone to errors. There is a profiling system in place, but it is rudimentary and dated. The lack of modern tools implies that assessments rely heavily on counsellors’ subjective judgment, leading to inconsistent results across offices and counsellors. Despite the personalised approach, those furthest from the labour market often receive less frequent support, while more work-ready individuals benefit from more regular counselling sessions. This is due to a variety of factors, including the counsellors’ heavy administrative duties.
The NEA develops Action Plans (APs) for all registered jobseekers, with additional Employment Integration Agreements (EIAs) for the long-term unemployed. While APs are recorded in the NDB, the data entry is not always consistent, and the lack of modern digital tools – such as AI-assisted plan creators, progress tracking dashboards, and reminder systems – hampers both the creation and effective tracking of these plans. Moreover, not all counsellors regularly update APs, limiting their usefulness as dynamic, client-focused tools. There is also no systematic follow-up after a jobseeker completes an agreed action, undermining the continuity and effectiveness of support. At the same time, EIAs are often perceived by NEA staff as duplicative of the AP. Staff report overlaps between the two documents and question the added value of the EIA. The process of establishing these agreements – particularly the assessment of employment barriers – is also seen as time‑consuming and inefficient. The use of EIAs is further questioned by very similar referral patterns between jobseekers with and without EIAs.
The NEA’s support to jobseekers is highly standardised, with limited capacity to address individual or complex needs or to adapt to changing labour market dynamics. In addition, the support is not clearly linked to the outcomes of the current profiling system. In fact, service delivery across different segmentation phases shows minimal variation, confirming that the profiling tool does not effectively distinguish between varying levels of support needs. While the current service portfolio may be sufficient for jobseekers closer to employment, and the introduction of specialised packages for vulnerable groups is a positive step, there is a clear need for more tailored, intensive interventions for those facing significant barriers to employment and the resources required for the NEA to deliver such support.
1.2.2. The NEA has built strong and trusted relationships with employers, and recent efforts strengthen this engagement
In recent years, the NEA has made notable progress in employer engagement, particularly through enhanced outreach and communication efforts, which have increased its visibility and strengthened relationships. However, several challenges remain.
A key issue is the lack of comprehensive understanding of employer profiles and needs, which hinders the NEA’s ability to tailor services effectively. Without detailed, up-to-date data on company profiles, workforce needs, and sector characteristics, it is difficult to anticipate demand and provide targeted support.
Additionally, employer services are not always well customised, and the roles of NEA staff interacting with employers are not always clear and well defined. Outreach activities, while promising, are often ad hoc rather than systematic. It also appears that the information on jobseekers’ skills that is passed on to employers is too rudimentary.
1.2.3. Bulgaria’s shift to a greener economy is transforming its labour market, prompting early action from the government and the NEA; however, despite progress, the green transition faces deepening challenges
Bulgaria’s shift toward a greener economy is reshaping the labour market, particularly in regions historically reliant on coal. The phased closure of mines and power plants is creating socio‑economic challenges in nine southern regions, with Stara Zagora, Pernik, and Kyustendil being the most affected. To support this transition, the Bulgarian Government established a National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP), running from 2021 to 2030. In December 2023, the European Commission approved Bulgaria’s Territorial Just Transition Plans, unlocking EUR 1.2 billion from the Just Transition Fund to facilitate the economic, social, and environmental transformation of the most affected regions.
The transition has already led to job losses, notably in Stara Zagora, following layoffs at a major thermal power plant in 2024. In response, the NEA has taken some preliminary steps at the local level, to connect jobseekers with existing employment opportunities and ALMPs. These actions include job fairs, information sessions for displaced workers immediately following layoffs and referrals to ALMPs, particularly training.
Challenges brought by the green transition are expected to exacerbate in the future, with potential closures of additional coal and thermal power plants, and broader socio‑economic changes in the transitioning regions. The challenges that NEA faces can be categorised into four main areas. While these are not unique to the green transition, they have particular relevance in this context.
Managing labour market disruptions and mismatches. The closure of coal plants and related industries is causing significant job losses and disruptions across Bulgaria’s labour market. A major challenge is the growing mismatch between displaced workers’ existing qualifications and the skills needs in emerging green sectors. To address this, following identification and mapping of skills needs, there should be a focus on timely and effective training, upskilling, and job placement services. Rapid technological change further complicates efforts to align new ALMPs with evolving labour market needs, highlighting the risk of long-term unemployment if action is delayed.
Balancing jobseeker expectations with employer needs. Displaced workers face not only financial and professional uncertainty, but also lack information about future opportunities. Many share concerns about unmet expectations for jobs in green sectors and feel unprepared for new roles. Mismatched salary expectations and doubts about job stability further complicate re‑employment. Family, financial, and emotional ties to the communities may reduce people’s ability to relocate for work. These factors, combined with psychological distress, may also result in limited engagement with available services.
Tackling uncertainty and operational limitations. The NEA’s efforts are constrained by uncertainty about the scope and timeline of the green transition. This lack of clarity makes it difficult to plan interventions, allocate resources, and set clear targets. Local labour offices face growing demands due to successive waves of layoffs but currently lack the necessary staffing and training.
Ensuring stakeholder engagement and co‑ordination. Effective management of the green transition requires sustained collaboration across ministries and government agencies, social partners, employers, and NGOs. While the NEA works with many stakeholders, consistent co‑ordination remains a challenge, notably in the links with training systems and with regional development.
While the NEA contributes to the planning and co‑ordination of green transition measures, it is not directly involved in developing the broader taxonomies and approaches that shape national green transition policies in the country. In some cases, it participates as a partner in research efforts, contributing inputs to surveys aimed at better understanding labour market needs including in the context of the green transition. Looking ahead, the NEA plans to enhance its role by mapping future skills needs, promoting regional mobility through targeted employment measures, and adopting digital tools to better support workforce adaptation in the green transition and beyond. While these are again not specific to the green transition, they have particular relevance in this context. To further enhance its impact, the NEA may need to develop more targeted initiatives specifically focused on green jobs and skills.
1.2.4. The NEA is taking important steps to modernising its IT systems, but a more strategic approach is needed
Bulgaria’s RRP foresees dedicated investment to modernise the NEA by improving its IT infrastructure, aiming to boost service efficiency and quality. The main planned digital developments include:
Updated National Database: The NDB is the primary information system of the NEA. The NEA has prioritised updates of the NDB which include enhancements in data management practices and establishments of data-sharing protocols with other public institutions, thereby reducing the current reliance on manual, paper-based processes.
Virtual labour office, including a matching platform: The NEA is currently in the process of developing a new digital platform – a virtual labour office – to enhance service accessibility for jobseekers and employers. Some of its functions will be enabled by AI, including a virtual assistant and a matching platform to match jobseekers with relevant job vacancies posted by employers.
Professional compass application: An orientation tool is under development which aims at recommending relevant training programmes and job opportunities to jobseekers based on their profession and location.
Despite progress, digital tools are often fragmented and outdated such as the profiling tool. Many processes still rely on basic questionnaires, and poor interoperability between systems increases the risk of errors and administrative workload. Public-facing platforms including the NEA’s website remain difficult to navigate and do not fully meet the expectations and needs of modern users. Finally, the NEA also lacks advanced tools for labour market analysis and forecasting.
Moreover, the NEA lacks a structured approach to monitoring and evaluation. Although some performance indicators have been introduced, they could be improved to include metrics such as post-placement retention, helping to identify and seize opportunities for improvement.
Future reforms at the NEA should focus on three components. First, enhancing workforce allocation and capacity. Second, improving services for jobseekers – from outreach and registration to activation and support in securing sustainable employment. And third, deepening engagement with employers – from communication and outreach to analysis and segmentation and provision of an extended set of services. These elements form the core of NEA’s operational system and support offered and are the primary targets for reform to improve service quality, responsiveness, and efficiency. The NEA must also be ready to play a role in addressing the challenges and supporting other institutions with respect to emerging labour market challenges with respect to the green transition and the digital transformation. To address these, the NEA should take steps to further streamline processes, boost efficiency, and future‑proof its service model with these priorities in mind, including through the adoption of modern digital tools, in line with what other EU and OECD PES have done (Figure 1.1).
Progress is already being made across several key operational areas. These notably include efforts to allocate staff across offices and enhance staff performance and capacity – including through better onboarding and training. The NEA has also advanced with respect to proactive outreach to jobseekers, especially the hardest to reach and personalised counselling. Employer engagement is one of the agency’s strengths. New digital tools are under development, and there is a wealth of administrative data available. This provides a solid foundation and should be further reinforced moving forward.
Source: Authors’ compilation.
1.3.1. Unlocking the full potential of the NEA’s workforce
Harnessing the full capabilities of the NEA’s staff requires a comprehensive strategy focused on building a high-performing, adaptable, and impact-driven workforce that can support the agency’s strategic goals. This strategy should rest on three core pillars:
1. Staff allocation. As the NEA continues to evolve, it must ensure that workforce structures – including how staff are allocated, how tasks are distributed, and how roles are specialised – are strategically aligned with both organisational goals and the diverse needs of the NEA clients. Refining the structure of the workforce based on data – such as caseload levels, specific regional and local labour market challenges, and staff skill profiles – would improve service efficiency and quality by enabling more balanced staff allocation, targeted training, and consistent delivery standards across all NEA’s local labour offices. In addition, the NEA should aim to standardise workflows, service delivery methods, and operational tools across its local offices. This would reduce regional disparities in service quality and ensure that all jobseekers, employers and other NEA clients receive equitable and effective support, regardless of where they access services. Rather than relying solely on current caseload figures, the NEA’s decisions should also take into account anticipated future needs, by monitoring labour market trends and assessing the complexity of client profiles. Allocations must be reviewed regularly and adjusted based on data, field experience, and staff feedback.
2. Staff development. Skills development is key for the NEA’s transformation. NEA staff should keep pace with changing needs and with the latest practices and trends. Capacity building, in conjunction with mentoring and professional development opportunities, would also contribute to job satisfaction and reducing staff turnover.
3. Operational procedures. A reform-oriented mindset is steadily taking root within the NEA, laying the foundation for meaningful institutional change. However, lasting success will depend on the agency’s ability to embrace change with confidence and agility. Among the benefits of strengthened intra- and inter-agency collaboration is accelerated innovation and problem-solving. Reformed working arrangements could lead to greater flexibility and responsiveness. At the same time, aligning performance management and incentives with actual impact will enhance accountability and help advance the NEA’s strategic goals.
These pillars are interdependent, i.e. changes in one area can affect the others. It is important though that these efforts are backed by adequate resources available to the NEA, including additional staff and particularly counsellors, and investments in digital infrastructure, as well as sufficient funding for ALMPs, to ensure staff capabilities lead to meaningful and long-lasting results.
1.3.2. Improvements across the whole jobseeker journey
The jobseeker journey at the NEA – from registration to employment – follows a series of stages, each supported by operational processes and services aimed at supporting jobseekers as they navigate challenges, build skills, and secure job opportunities. A comprehensive review of the current system revealed multiple areas where improvements can be made across all stages.
While the NEA’s outreach efforts are strong, more can be done to make the agency more visible and recognisable to diverse jobseeker groups. To achieve this, a focused approach across five key areas is essential: i) develop a comprehensive and dedicated outreach strategy that intensifies current efforts; ii) leverage all available communication channels including a wide range of tools and platforms to broaden reach and ensure consistent engagement; iii) engage key stakeholders to amplify reach and impact; iv) adopt clear, accessible and targeted messaging that resonates with diverse target groups and regularly assess; and v) refine outreach efforts to ensure continued relevance and effectiveness.
To reduce the burden on NEA staff and jobseekers, the registration process should be simplified. This includes automating data retrieval from administrative databases and promoting remote registration via a user-friendly website and potential mobile app. Information collected at registration should also go beyond personal and employment history to include jobseekers’ preferences and goals, enabling more tailored support. While the development of digital tools should be prioritised, in-person and paper-based options must remain available to avoid excluding less digitally literate groups.
Revamping NEA’s counselling and case management approach can better identify jobseekers’ needs while easing counsellors’ administrative burden. A more structured, needs-based counselling model should reflect the diverse profiles of jobseekers and support not only labour market entry but also long-term integration -including career shifts where desired. To free up time for direct support, the NEA should reduce administrative tasks for counsellors. For those likely to find work independently, fewer meetings and digital Action Plans may be more appropriate, while more intensive and in-person support should remain available for the most vulnerable. The structure and timing of counselling sessions should be flexible to ensure that jobseekers receive the level of support they need. An advanced profiling tool – trained on a rich set of data – can help identify jobseekers’ skills and barriers more accurately, ensuring equitable resource allocation and avoiding cream skimming, i.e. that those closest to the labour market are implicitly prioritised. Such a tool should support but not replace counsellors’ judgment.
More informed referrals and regular follow-ups are key to supporting jobseekers throughout their journey. Using forward-looking, dynamic Action Plans can help jobseekers better anticipate and plan their path to employment. There is a fast-track process for some groups close to employment which is promising and, if effective, could be expanded beyond prime‑aged and older jobseekers. The NEA might also simplify its approach by merging EIAs into a unified Action Plan model, with tailored features for vulnerable and long-term unemployed individuals. Follow-up frequency and type should be adjusted jobseekers’ progress. New features – such as auto-generated jobseeker summaries for employers or employer testimonials – could improve matching.
To better serve its diverse client base, the NEA should shift from a one‑size‑fits-all approach to offering tailored ALMPs, particularly for hard-to-place groups. Regular assessments of the ALMP portfolio can help phase out outdated offerings and introduce programmes that address emerging labour market challenges. In addition, services and programmes should reflect regional labour market specificities and challenges, as needs tend to differ largely across regions. Over time, partnerships with specialised external providers may be explored, but any such consideration should be gradual, selective, and based on clear evidence of added value.
The NEA should adopt robust, data-driven approaches to continuously evaluate the effectiveness of its ALMPs. This would allow the agency to identify which programmes deliver the strongest outcomes, enabling more effective allocation of resources and informed programme design. Among evaluation methods, counterfactual impact evaluations (CIEs) remain the most reliable for measuring the true effects of interventions and ensure that their objectives are realistic and achievable. Within this respect, a recent CIE of the NEA’s professional development counselling services – one of its core ALMPs – conducted as part of this project, revealed a short-term negative impact on employment outcomes. Specifically, a lock-in effect was observed as counselled jobseekers initially faced a lower probability of re‑employment. Moreover, these individuals were not found to secure more stable or higher-paying jobs in the longer term, suggesting that the time spent in counselling did not necessarily translate into improved job matching.
1.3.3. Strengthening the NEA’s role in engaging with employers
Building on its strong employer relationships, the NEA has an opportunity to lead in this area by adopting best practices from EU and OECD countries and take a leading role in this field through a series of strategic steps.
It is particularly important that the NEA gains a clear understanding of both the employers it currently engages with and those it does not. A critical step therefore is analysing existing employer data within the NEA’s database, alongside local labour market assessments. This will enable detailed employer mapping by region and help identifying key employer characteristics. Following this analysis, employers should be segmented based on specific attributes – starting with those already in the NEA’s database and later expanding to include all identified through mapping.
The NEA’s core services remain essential and should be maintained, but there is significant potential to expand its portfolio in response to employers’ evolving needs. These could include more tailored recruitment support, targeted assistance with workforce planning, post-hiring support – particularly for jobseekers previously far from the labour market – and more detailed jobseeker information. Depending on the scale and scope of these services, co-financing by employers could also be considered. Programmes could become more effective if employers are actively involved in their design and delivery. Lastly, while it is crucial for the NEA to address employer needs, it must at the same time ensure that employers meet their obligations, through consistent oversight and engagement.
A key step toward more effective and consistent employer services is clearly defining internal roles and responsibilities. This could include establishing a dedicated unit at NEA headquarters to focus on large employers and co‑ordinate efforts across local offices. At the local level – where feasible – employer counsellors should be designated as a distinct role within labour offices, including mobile teams. In parallel, staff engaging with employers should receive specialised, practical training, ideally developed in partnership with a business school or university to ensure both quality and relevance. The NEA could also develop a good practice handbook. Drawing on both local and international examples, this resource would help local offices strengthen employer relations in ways tailored to their specific contexts.
After employer segmentation and engagement plans, the NEA should proactively reach out to employers. Outreach should use a variety of channels to ensure wide coverage and accessibility. its approach and maximise impact.
1.3.4. Turning the challenges of the green transition into opportunities
The NEA can leverage its own experience along with elements of successful practices from other EU and OECD countries that have undergone similar transitions to better navigate the complexities of the green transition and address its associated challenges. Four main areas should be considered in this context.
First, a dedicated green strategy and strengthened internal capacity should be underpinning the agency’s efforts. To effectively support the green transition, the NEA should adopt a structured and strategic approach by developing a dedicated green action plan or integrating green initiatives into its core strategies and operational documents. This includes aligning efforts with national policies, contributing to cross-sectoral planning, and actively engaging in relevant working groups and committees. Enhancing internal capacity is essential, particularly through targeted staff training on green labour market dynamics, emerging sectors, and green job taxonomies. Collaborating with educational institutions can further strengthen expertise. Equally important is raising awareness among jobseekers, employers, and the public through digital channels and career guidance.
Second, labour market intelligence and green taxonomies can play an important role in advancing the green transition. Like other PES, the NEA can strengthen the green transition by developing green taxonomies and building robust labour market intelligence. A green taxonomy – a clear framework defining green jobs, skills, and industries – is crucial for consistency and must be regularly updated to reflect emerging roles in the green economy. The NEA is considering adapting the European ESCO framework to local needs and integrating green skills into job portals and training databases to better connect jobseekers and employers with relevant opportunities. Data-driven approaches will enhance forecasting of green skills demand, enabling the NEA to design targeted programmes and adjust policies based on real-time labour market insights.
Third, it is important to be aware that all categories of ALMPs can support the green transition. The closure of coal mines and plants in regions like Stara Zagora and Pernik will impact around 18 000 workers and their communities, along with dependent industries. To address this, the NEA should adapt and develop ALMPs tailored to the green transition, following examples from other EU and OECD countries. These programmes include job counselling, job matching, training, employment incentives, supported employment, direct job creation, and start-up support, often combined into comprehensive packages. High-risk areas such as Sliven and Yambol need targeted interventions like mobility assistance and subsidised employment to help workers relocate to growing regions like Thrace or the Black Sea zone. Finally, these ALMPs must focus on long-term sustainability to ensure new jobs provide lasting economic benefits rather than short-term fixes.
Finally, monitoring and evaluation need to be stepped up to enable the NEA to measure the impact of its green transition initiatives and support workforce shifts into green jobs. Current indicators track general outputs like participant numbers and job placements but lack focus on transitions to green roles. Effective Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) should include metrics such as the number of individuals trained in green skills, green job postings, employment outcomes for green jobseekers, and the alignment of training with market needs.
1.3.5. Building up a modern digital ecosystem to support the NEA’s work and operating processes
Digitalisation must be at the heart of the NEA’s new operating model, yet it remains a major challenge. To unlock the full potential of digital transformation, two key conditions are essential: actively involving NEA staff early in the design and implementation of new digital tools, and providing continuous, comprehensive training for all employees, across all roles and levels.
The introduction of new tools and systems, including with AI, marks a major shift for the NEA, affecting internal processes, staff roles, client interactions, and service delivery. This transformation occurs within the broader context of an increasingly digital work environment, where many jobs are being transformed by emerging technologies – trends that have important implications for both the orientation of labour market policies and workforce training. To guide this transformation, a high-level strategy is essential. It should clearly define objectives and the NEA’s vision for AI use, identify priority areas where AI can add the most value, outline the tools and technologies to be adopted, establish principles for ethical and secure implementation, and include a roadmap with clear milestones, as well as plans for monitoring, evaluation, and long-term sustainability.
Digital and AI-driven tools can deliver significant benefits in all areas of the NEA:
1. Supporting jobseekers in their journey toward (re)employment. These include systems for online registration, tools to enhance counselling and career guidance, personalised job search, online training and certification, job search and matching and vacancy listings (from the side of jobseekers), and skills assessments. Particular attention should be paid to profiling, as it enhances jobseeker assessment and improves service targeting while ensuring transparency, accuracy, and usability.
2. Enhancing employer engagement. This includes improved matching services that facilitate connections between employers and potential candidates. Digital tools can also support the design of job vacancies and recruitment, including for hard-to-fill roles, streamlined processes to attract engagement of employers with the PES, support with and provision of real-time labour market insights, and outreach to businesses.
3. Easing administrative and back-office processes. The NEA should prioritise the full and rapid implementation of digital tools to streamline administrative and back-office processes, reduce manual data entry, and ease the burden on staff. Key actions include automated data transfers between systems, standardising data formats, upgrading IT infrastructure, and phasing out paper-based processes through digital channels. Embracing advanced tools, including AI for fraud detection, will improve efficiency, accuracy, and service quality across the organisation.
4. Supporting knowledge generation and analytics. This encompasses data management platforms and Labour Market Information Systems (LMIS), including those with forecasting capabilities. To strengthen evidence‑based policymaking and link market needs to the actions implemented, the NEA should invest in advanced labour market information systems that provide real-time data and predictive insights, while conducting complementary local employer surveys and sector-specific analyses more systematically. It should also adopt AI tools to enhance job classification, skills identification, and ALMP impact evaluations, in addition to traditional data sources.
5. Crucially, the NEA needs to establish a robust, integrated monitoring and evaluation framework – with strong data infrastructure and internal expertise – to assess programme effectiveness, inform decision-making, and support continuous improvement. More generally, strong monitoring and evaluation frameworks need to be in place to ensure that new digital solutions perform effectively and evolve through continuous improvement. The NEA should monitor and evaluate its digital and AI solutions to ensure they are user-friendly, impactful, and sustainable. This includes piloting AI tools before rollout, conducting impact evaluations and cost-benefit analyses and monitoring for model drift, bias, and performance issues. Establishing strong feedback loops is also essential to refine or discontinue underperforming tools and ensure continuous improvement based on evidence and user experience.
Laying the foundation: Cross-cutting recommendations for sustainable reforms
Strengthen public trust in the NEA and its partnerships. Enhance the agency’s visibility and appeal, so that jobseekers clearly see the NEA as a valuable and accessible source of support.
Ensure that large‑scale transformations, such as digitalisation, do not generate uncertainty and hesitation among jobseekers by promoting clear communication, inclusive planning, and ongoing support to build confidence and ensure smooth and successful adoption. Implement strong ethical safeguards to guarantee fairness and transparency throughout the transition.
Strengthen co‑operation by actively engaging with diverse stakeholders such as other public agencies, the private sector, social partners, municipalities, training providers, universities, vocational schools and NGOs to advance multiple key objectives.
Eliminate reliance on in-person and paper-based processes and place the digital transformation at the core to the NEA’s new operating model.
Ensure that the new operating model reflects the diverse challenges, labour market conditions and profiles of jobseekers across different regions.
Address the low digital literacy and limited foundational skills – especially among older jobseekers.
Develop robust monitoring and evaluation frameworks with clear results chains, indicators, and targets to continuously assess the effectiveness, efficiency, and impact of ALMPs (including through counterfactual impact evaluations), strategies, new digital tools and platforms, ensuring they deliver meaningful improvements in outcomes, service delivery and user experience.
Empowering NEA’s workforce: Strengthen staffing and capability for better service delivery
Redistribute staff based on regional caseloads, jobseeker profiles, and labour market conditions to balance workloads and improve service access. Use data to adjust distributions regularly.
Deploy specialised staff in local offices to better assist vulnerable and hard-to-place jobseekers. Take local priorities and seasonal trends (e.g. high turnover in services) into account.
Where possible set new roles (e.g. employer counsellors) and new teams (e.g. unit for strategic change).
Provide continuous, flexible training – both general and tailored, including for digital tools – to keep staff equipped for evolving employment trends and practices, including with respect to specific local challenges. Short, frequent sessions should be preferred over one‑off trainings.
Set clear and measurable Key Performance Indicators reflecting case complexity, workload and actual contribution. Use performance data to both guide resource allocation and identify development needs.
Define clear career paths and professional development opportunities. Strengthen both financial and non-financial incentives along with regular feedback to maintain a skilled, satisfied and motivated workforce.
Support every jobseeker: Personalise assistance for activation and sustainable employment
Develop and deploy a modern profiling system, paired with targeted training for counsellors to use it effectively.
Go beyond employment history to record jobseeker interests and goals, helping counsellors offer more relevant advice and referrals. Apply proper skills assessments (with the use of appropriate tools) to identify gaps and strengths, and use the results to guide personalised referrals, job matching, and career planning.
Provide targeted support, including basic skills, soft skills and language training, to address barriers faced by older individuals and other disadvantaged groups.
Expand proactive outreach, particularly to vulnerable and remote jobseekers, leveraging all available channels, tailoring messaging to different demographics.
Monitor outreach effectiveness through engagement metrics and feedback, and adjust efforts based on data-driven insights.
Promote and facilitate remote registration by enhancing online accessibility through a user-friendly interface, clear guidance materials, and interoperability with other administrative systems to pre‑fill data, to the degree possible.
Develop fully virtual offices or digital service platforms to expand accessibility and flexibility. Offer digital tools for those closer to the labour market while maintain paper and in-person options for those with low digital literacy, especially older jobseekers.
Adapt ALMPs and services – by involving key stakeholders – to reflect local labour market conditions and specific needs of key groups. If resources are limited, consider launching pilot programmes – with a randomised controlled trial (RCT) component from the outset, and then scale/roll-out based on the results.
Involve counsellors in service design and reform implementation, recognising their frontline role, insights and experience.
Improve jobseekers’ engagement in training programmes. Strengthen communication before enrolment, provide consistent support throughout, and consider measures – such as incentives or sanctions – to reduce dropout rates and boost completion.
Enhance the effectiveness of Action Plans and automate parts of the process. Revisit the role and value‑added of Employment Integration Agreements.
Develop and make publicly available a map of social and employment services, to support referrals by counsellors and help jobseekers navigate available support independently.
Strengthen engagement with employers: Sharpen approach, partnerships and services
Establish a dedicated unit at the central level of the NEA to manage relationships with large and multi-branch companies and co‑ordinate the relevant work at the local level. At the local level, appoint employer counsellors as a standalone role in labour offices, where appropriate.
Equip employer-facing staff with specialised skills to engage effectively and support better job matching.
Expand the NEA’s portfolio of services to employers beyond traditional services, including through post-hiring support such as Human Resource capacity-building and Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, ideally co-financed or delivered through employer associations.
Leverage digital and AI tools to improve job matching, support recruitment, assist employers in designing vacancy postings, identify hard-to-fill positions, and forecast hiring potential.
Involve employers and their associations systematically in shaping key programmes like wage subsidies and training to boost effectiveness and take‑up.
Expand outreach efforts and experiment with different messaging to identify what works best.
Define clear protocols to manage challenges with less reliable employers, particularly in smaller communities.
Monitor vacancy quality and track post-placement outcomes, especially retention beyond subsidy periods.
Navigate the green transition: Address key challenges
Raise awareness and strengthen expertise on the green transition among staff, including through specialised training on green sectors, job taxonomies, and market trends. Partner with educational institutions to enhance training quality and relevance.
Focus on creating sustainable employment opportunities rather than short-term fixes, addressing the unique challenges faced by affected workers to ensure enduring economic benefits.
Identify skill gaps and viable green sectors. Establish a clear and consistent green taxonomy and regularly update it to reflect evolving labour market demands. Adapt frameworks like the ESCO classification to align job portals, training databases, and labour market policies with green transition objectives.
Invest in collecting, analysing, and using data (internally or in partnership) to forecast green skills needs, identify emerging trends, and assess the impact of the green transition on affected workers.
Establish region-specific roadmaps and sector-level insights to address localised green skills shortages and employment barriers, particularly through the establishment of skills councils, as well as surveys and consultations.
Mobilise all categories of ALMPs to support the green transition, including mobility incentives, to facilitate worker movement to high-demand regions.
Drive smart digital transformation: Modernise tools while keeping services human-centred
Prioritise comprehensive training to ensure staff can effectively use new digital systems and tools.
Upgrade IT tools to better support counsellors and improve service delivery, while accounting for current limitations linked to reliance on external providers.
Expand and promote the use of digital and AI-based tools to enhance jobseeker support throughout their journey. Focus key initiatives on remote registration, automated application processing, digital counselling services, career guidance, chatbots for real-time information online courses with certification, AI-powered job and ALMP matching, and skills assessment tools.
Develop a robust profiling tool that enhances jobseeker assessment and service targeting while ensuring transparency, accuracy, and usability. Make sure that the tool complements rather than replaces counsellors.
Accelerate the efforts for real-time data sharing across systems, including access to external databases, to support smoother transitions and more responsive services.
Enhance the NEA’s labour market information capabilities by adopting advanced forecasting tools and leveraging real-time data for evidence‑based policymaking.
Improve the NEA website and develop a user-friendly mobile app to make interactions more user-friendly and efficient for both jobseekers and employers.
References
[2] OECD (2025), OECD Reviews of Labour Market and Social Policies: Bulgaria 2025, OECD Reviews of Labour Market and Social Policies, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/81e7cac7-en.
[1] OECD (2024), International Migration Outlook 2024, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/50b0353e-en.
← 1. ALMPs have been financed through European funds including the European Social Fund (ESF) and the European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI), and the Youth Guarantee and more recently through the RRF, as well as from national resources.
← 2. While patterns remain largely unchanged over time, the composition of ALMP expenditures may shift in the next measurement due to the significant funding inflows from the RRF, particularly for training programmes.