Deputy PM: 700,000 citizens left North Macedonia in eight years

NEWS 27.09.202221:25
Pixabay

North Macedonian Deputy Prime Minister in charge of economic affairs, coordination of economic sectors and investments Fatmir Bytyqi said 700,000 North Macedonians left the country between 2011 and 2019, Beta reported.

Bytyqi told the media that the mass emigration from the country created in a vacuum in the labor market and that this is a problem for the whole society.

“Even though this trend slowed down in the coronavirus period, unfortunately it is still a serious problem not only for public office holders and policy creators, but also for the whole society, because there is a vacuum in the labor market,” said Bytyqi.

He explained that there are several reasons why people are departing, but they all stem from the people’s lack of trust in the institutions.

„High corruption and great political instability, the desire for a better standard of living, problems in education, healthcare, lack of perspective for children, are only some of the reasons that force primarily young higher education staff to make their dreams come true abroad“, said Bytyqi.

Because of the vacuum in the labor market, North Macedonia is starting to import the labor force, Bytyqi explained.

“Our people are leaving for Germany, but we are also attractive to people from other countries. Salaries here are more competitive than the in the countries they come from. There is a large number of Turkish citizens in construction because salaries in this sector are about 50 percent higher than those in Turkey. In the IT sector we have people from India and Pakistan. We are looking at import of labor force,” said Bytyqi.