Unemployment problem and employment policies: The example of North Macedonia

The country declared its independence in 1991 under the name Macedonia following the dissolution of Yugoslavia. Other intemational organizations, such as the European Union, thc North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the lntemational Monetary Fund, the European Broadcasting Union, and the Intemational Olympic Committee, recognized the country as the Forrner Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). While NATO, which recognized the country as FYROM, included the acronym "FYROM" in ali documents containing the name Macedonia. a footnote at the end of the document indicated that NATO member countries recognized Macedonia by its constitutional name. in June 2018, after lengthy negotiations with Greece, an agreernent was reached to offıcially name Macedonia as the "Republic of North Macedonia." Today, ali intemational organizations refer to the country as the "Republic of North Macedonia." Unemployment is one of the most debated concepts in studies related to labor economics and industrial relations. it is one ofthe crucial socio-economic problems of the cunent century. Thc risk of unemployment has serious negative consequences on the economies and populations of countries. Due to the decrease in purchasing power, a country's production capacity dccreases. and the living standards of workers drop, leading to psychological issues. All of these factors negatively affect social harmony. Beyond the issue of unemployment itself, the real debate should focus on the methods of combating unemployment. Unemployment, which has been the subject of various research for many years, creates problems at both the individual and societal levels. making it a field that requires intervention. Since combating unemployment on an individual level is diffıcult, the government implements various policies to help unemployed individuals navigate their period of unemployment more smoothly and fınd new employment. Policies known as active and passive labor market policies, defined in the literature and in practice, fail under the broader framework of macroeconomic and social policies implemented by the government. The macroeconomic policy goals, such as reducing the unemployment rate and ensuring price stability, sometimes contradict each other. in our study, we will briefly discuss the problems in the structure of the industrial sector ofNorth Macedonia's economy. technological inadequacies, low levels of exports, increases in demand for imported goods in production and consumption. high unemployment, and how solutions to these issues can be generated. The empirical findings regarding how the Macedonian economy has tackled high unemployment since gaining independence in 1991 will be discussed within a scicntifıc framcwork. Keywords: Employment, Unemployment, Foreign lnvestments. Labor Market.