During 2025, the Employment Office of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina had approximately 116 million convertible marks in new funds intended for active employment policy programs.
From that amount, 15 million KM was, based on the decree of the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, aimed at supporting low-accumulative activities and preserving existing employment, while about 101 million KM was set aside for the implementation of new programs.
These data were presented at a press conference held in Sarajevo by the director of the Federal Employment Agency, Helena Lončar, presenting the results of the measures implemented in the past year.
According to her, the realization of the new programs exceeded 98 percent, and the right to subsidies within the training, employment and self-employment programs was achieved by more people than originally planned – a total of around 11,000. Thus, as stated, corresponding contractual obligations were created.
The structure of users shows that more than 45 percent are young people under the age of 30, while 55 percent of users are female. More than 35 percent of the persons included were previously registered as unemployed for more than 12 months, and 32 percent are persons over 40 years old. When it comes to the level of education, about 18 percent of users have a university degree, 38 percent have a secondary degree, while about 30 percent are qualified workers.
“The Institute’s report on the implementation of the aforementioned programs will soon be prepared with even more thorough data and analysis and published on the official website,” Lončar also said.
The Federal Employment Agency, as explained, regularly conducts research on the state of the labor market. About 1,300 employers were surveyed for 2025 and 2026, and the results of those surveys serve as guidelines when creating employment programs.
“We ask employers who among them they intend to hire, who to fire, what their interests are in relation to professional profiles, etc. Out of 1,300 respondents, 822 employers stated that they need a workforce, a total of more than 6,000 people, which is about 7.5 percent more than in the previous year. They mostly need workers in the processing industry, trade, construction and catering, about 65 percent of qualified workers and about 20 with a secondary vocational education”, said Lončar.
During 2025, the Institute approved the issuance of 2,700 work permits, out of a total of 4,500 that were planned, and interest has already been expressed for the same number of permits for 2026 as well. The largest number of requests related to workers from India, Turkey, Nepal and Bangladesh.
The survey showed that trade and service occupations dominate among the deficit occupations, including salesmen, traders, tailors, truck drivers, waiters, locksmiths, auxiliary workers, storekeepers, cooks, welders and carpenters.
When it comes to personnel with a higher education, the greatest demand is for computer scientists, programmers and electrical engineers, the Director of the Institute stated.
Announcing the next activities, Lončar said that a new online public call for employment programs is expected in March, after the completion of the necessary procedures, while some programs implemented using different models could be announced earlier.
“Our interest is as soon as possible, because there is already significant interest from employers in the announcement of the Institute’s call,” said Lončar, reports Acts.
