The state of human resources in public sector in the Republic of Macedonia

Abstract

In the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, in the last seventeen years, efforts have been made to build a professional, expert and primarily depoliticized public administration in accordance with European standards. Unfortunately, we have failed to reduce political influence on the ‘meritocracy’ system, especially in terms of new employments, as well as on the progress and assessment of civil servants. Also, the professional development of civil servants was hampered by formal and systemic training problems, and they are implemented ad hoc generally without any order. Because of this paradox, the position of the Human Resources Departments in the official system is very similar to traditional ‘personnel departments’. The dilemma is whether the new legal solutions of 2015 (the Law on Public Sector Employees and the Law on Administrative Officers) will be an appropriate solution to the human resource management shortcomings of the past years and the citizens will finally receive a professional, expert and depoliticized public service working for the interest of the citizens.