Labor market in Macedonia

The State Statistical Office, Државен завод за статистика (SSO), reported a 52.3% activity rate, a 45.8% employment rate and a 12.4% unemployment rate in 2024. The inactive population numbered 722,527. Employment was 399,164 for men and 295,342 for women; the employment rate for ages 15 to 64 was 57.8%. Among people aged 15 to 29, employment was 35.5% and unemployment was 23.4%. The employment rate was 53.6% for men and 38.3% for women. Demand is visible through vacancies as well as employment statistics. Employers reported 9,562 vacancies in the fourth quarter of 2024, with a vacancy rate of 1.93%. The highest rates were in accommodation and food services at 3.47%, education at 3.22%, administrative and support services at 3.00%, trade at 2.76%, construction at 2.14% and manufacturing at 1.98%. Professionals accounted for 2,149 vacancies, followed by service and sales workers with 2,074, elementary occupations with 1,638, craft workers with 1,028, technicians with 1,016, and machine operators and assemblers with 851. The figures indicate recurring demand in services, manufacturing, construction, education and ICT or technical work, while public administration had a much lower vacancy rate of 0.13%. Vacancies are concentrated in Skopje, which recorded 4,862 vacancies and a 1.88% vacancy rate. Pelagonia had the highest regional rate at 2.72%, followed by the Southeast at 2.20%, Vardar at 2.01%, Polog at 1.97%, the East at 1.73%, the Northeast at 1.49% and the Southwest at 1.27%. A suitable occupation can therefore have different prospects depending on the region, and regional mismatch can make recruitment difficult even when people are available elsewhere. Jobseekers can register with the Агенција за вработување на Република Северна Македонија (AVРСМ/ESA), use employment centres and search vacancies through e-Работа. Other routes include employer vacancy systems, private recruitment agencies, direct applications and professional networks. ESA also uses skills-demand surveys and occupational classifications such as NKZ and ISCO. Its active labor market programs (ALMPs) can include training, apprenticeships or practical placements, wage support, self-employment grants or loans, and public or social-service employment. Eligibility, quotas, documents and deadlines depend on the annual Оперативен план, and registration does not guarantee placement. The average monthly net wage was 43,050 MKD in January 2025. The annual wage index was 108.9 and the real wage index was 103.8. This average covers employees with work contracts but excludes own-account workers and individual farmers, so it does not describe every form of work or the differences between sectors. Informal employment remains significant, especially in agriculture, hospitality and low-protection work. Formal registration supports social-insurance records and enforceable rights, while undeclared work can mean lost contributions, weaker protection and inspection sanctions. The Labor Force Survey (LFS) follows International Labour Organization concepts. It can count someone as employed after at least one hour of paid or profit-making work, during temporary absence from a job, or through unpaid family work. Labor-market figures therefore do not all describe the same legal status as a registered employment contract. Working-age population pressure, ageing, outmigration, diaspora and remittances, and the inflow of foreign workers continue to change labor supply. Official external-migration tables are available, but current labor-migration volumes require a date-specific check. Wage data are published monthly, labor-force data quarterly or annually, and vacancy data quarterly. ESA registration conditions, employer reporting and social-insurance records must be checked against the applicable notice and labor rules; detailed contract, minimum-wage, leave, safety, dispute and benefit rules belong to employment law rather than to the labor-market overview.