LABOUR MARKET FLEXIBILITY AND DECENT WORK – THE CASE OF THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA

Abstract

Labour market flexibility refers to the ability of labour markets to adjust to changes in market conditions, including changes in the demand for labour and the wage rate. In the modern development strategies for sustainable growth and development, labour market flexibility is considered as a key source for employment creation, and in that context, the final goal of the governments’ labour policies is achieving a productive employment and decent work. Decent work covers the desires of people for opportunities for work that is productive and delivers a fair income, security in the workplace and social protection, better prospects for personal development and social integration, and freedom of association and active participation in the process of negotiation and social dialogue. After the economic crisis of 2008, there has been an increased willingness among international policy-makers to achieve sustainable, inclusive economic growth and eliminate poverty through the creation of productive employment and decent work. The focus of this research paper is the analysis of the flexibility of labour market in our country from the several different dimensions of flexibility (employment protection, wage flexibility, functional flexibility and supply side flexibility) and whether the government’s labour policies adequately addressed the issues regarding of achieving decent work during the period 2006-2017. For that purposes it will be performed a multivariate regression analysis by using the OLS method. As a main source of data, it will be used the labour statistics of: ILO, Eurostat, World Bank, OECD, SEE Jobs Gateway Database and the State Statistical Office of Republic of North Macedonia. The findings of this research should reveal the main problems of labour market (in)flexibility in our country, and point out the main challenges that the policy-makers should consider as a priority in order to overcome the high rates of unemployment and to deliver quality jobs along with social protection and better prospects for personal development and social integration