The Bulgarian labour market is gradually picking up, reports the National Employment Agency. During the current year 2013, over 178 thousand people have started a new job. The sheer number of workers who have acquired their jobs thanks to an employment program of the Agency has climbed by twenty thousand in comparison with the previous year.

35 psychologists and qualified managers have already been assigned in the job centres of all regional cities. They have the responsibility to professionally assist the job-seekers with overcoming their psychological barriers and gaining more self-confidence. Kamelia Nikolova, one of the psychologists at the employment office explained: “Most of the people who come to us are insecure and frustrated. Very often they have even lost their hope of ever finding a job”.

The currently employed psychologists and managers were initially registered as unemployed themselves. For this reason, they should be considered as an example of how the shortage of vacancies can be overcome, of course, not without the necessary motivation and support. To the measures undertaken by the Ministry of Labour and Social policy belongs also the Program for activation of unemployed with an yearly budget of 600 thousand Leva. However, the labour market still has to face the challenge to provide adequate working positions for qualified young people. This involves a long-term strategic planning, as well as a much stronger cooperation between companies and educational institutions.

A specific action aimed at such a result is the Ministry of Education Program for student internships, which strives to create a symbiosis between universities and business. Meanwhile, it was announced that the most desired occupations for the current year would be those of accountants, system administrators and sales representatives. This show the results of a survey carried out by the consulting companies CareerBuilder and Economic Modeling Specialists Intl. (EMSI).