The way out of Croatia's high unemployment predicament could be education, experts say.Croatia's workforce is professionally static and is overall unwilling to change professions and invest in new education. Those who do not invest in new skills are especially at risk of entering long-term unemployment, or being without a job for six months or more. Thirty six percent of those affected by the long-term unemployment in Croatia today have only primary school education.Jasminka Laznjak at the Department of Sociology in Zagreb's Faculty of Philosophy said: "The crucial factor in reducing unemployment in Croatia could be a significant rise in an educated workforce."She warns that long-term unemployment can lead to political, social and economic instability. "The cost of long-term unemployment increasing poverty, crime, regional decay, an increase in health costs, and an increase in conditions that support the rise of violence, intolerance and terrorism."In addition, long-term unemployment has as a consequence social isolation, marginalization and loss of social networks. One's occupation is an important identifying factor. It is tied to organised work, and falling out of such an organisation means re-questioning your identity."Inga Zic from the Ministry of Economy said that the country's high unemployment is not as troubling as the low level of employment in Croatia."If a miracle happened and all of the unemployed suddenly got a job overnight, the unemployment rate would be one thing, but the rate of the employed population able to work (those from 15 to 64 years of age) would only increase by two percent, from 57 to 59 percent.""That is still a low utilization of the country's labor resources," she added.
Source: Croatian Times Online News
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