COVID-19 AND LABOR MARKETS - COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS - THE CASE OF WESTERN BALKAN COUNTRIES

The economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated certain structural changes in the economy, especially in the labor markets. When analyzing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on labor markets, it should be noted that not all countries, industries and professions are equally affected. We are witnessing that most of the highly developed countries have more or less successfully overcome the shocks that appeared on the labor markets, the shutdown of some of the service sectors, the slowdown of the supply chains of raw materials, as well as the acceleration of some of the structural changes in the labor market. However, like any other recession, there are countries in this one that have largely felt the negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in the labor market. In addition, the workers in the so-called shadow economy or informal sector, low-skilled workers, workers who worked in the services sector (especially in the field of personal services), so greater impact is observed in developing countries, where this type of employment is a significant part of the total workforce. In the absence of empirical researches on the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the labor market in the Western Balkans (North Macedonia, Albania, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo) it is considered necessary to make a comparative analysis of the negative effects on the labor market, the trend of the employment and unemployment rate, as well as a comparative analysis of the measures taken by the governments to mitigate the negative effects on labor market in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.