Coronavirus situation, about 50,000 people have lost their jobs in Kosovo

I was a laborer at a market, but a month ago I got fired and now I'm unemployed; not only I, there are many workers, but most of them are gone and I don't know what will happen after the pandemic is finished. I don't think we're going to be back there for a long time, but we're going to have a hard time after the end of the pandemic, I don't know what we're going to live with.”, he says.

Kosovo has a 30 per cent unemployment rate, but this number is expected to be greater in view of the number of people who have lost their jobs due to pandemic.

A study of the Economic Associations in Kosovo published on March 21st notes that 30 percent of the surveyed companies have claimed to have reduced the number of employees.

According to the size of the companies, it turns out that at least employees have left large companies, while the largest evacuations are reported in medium enterprises and small ones about 13.9 percent of them have dismissed over 50 percent of those employed.

Kosovo's government in the Fiscal Emergency Pack, which amounts to around 180m euros, has in one of the measures provided for workers who have lost their jobs after the government's move is announced, to benefit from 170 euros for the next two months.

Jobseekers Increase

At the Employment Agency of Kosovo, the number of those registered as unemployed has increased.

The director general of this agency, Drin Harachia, told Radio Free Europe that within just five days at the employment office, over 6 thousand people are registered as unemployed.

On 16 April, the Government of Kosovo has started applying the 15th measures of the Financial Emergency Pack, which envisions 130 euros in monthly assistance to families who have no employees.

“One of the criteria for receiving an aid from the Emergency Package is registering as unemployed. Since the launch of this measure, we have more than 6 thousand people registered as unemployed, but that figure will be higher because in offices that are in all municipalities, there are a large number of physical and online applications. In the coming days all of these will be put into the system and this number will be much higher”, Harachia says.

By March 15th of this year, the number of unemployed registered at the Employment Agency has been 75 thousand job seekers.

Afaring Oda: Over 50,000 citizens have lost their jobs.

The chairman of the Afarism Oda in Kosovo, Skender Krasniqi, tells Radio Free Europe that more in Kosovo now some 50,000 workers have lost their jobs due to the forced interruption of some economic activities.

How much unemployment will increase, it will depend on how much business will be supported at this time by the state. As long as the state doesn't support businesses to have liquidity or help you financially, then unemployment will be much bigger than it is now. We think at least 50,000 workers have so far been laid off”, Krasniqi says.