With about 800,000 unemployed and almost shattered (some would say non-existing) economy, the situation in Serbia is far from good. To get a job in Serbia is a miracle for most people, even bigger one if the job is got through a competition or at the Employment Bureau.
Illustration: http://rt.com/
The only chance to create job posts is with the help of foreign investors and companies. Some Serbian entrepreneurs say they even have a surplus of employees, the state does not try to invest in production, and only foreign businessmen can create jobs. Of course, let’s not forget the great subsidies received by companies for each new job post, which was a part of the strategy of Serbian government to attract foreign investors, so we wonder why domestic entrepreneurs did not receive these few thousand euros per employee? Perhaps the image of Serbia would look different today, and there would be more people employed.
However, a job post in a public company or government is still popular among Serbs. Any public company acts as a magnet for the unemployed. Why? Is it a big salary or standard which makes the jobless man to drool over a job in some public company? For some positions that is true, but the job in such company offers some kind of existential safety, especially known to those who work there.
We all know, roughly, how the recruitment procedure for a job is done today – thanks to personal acquaintances and connections, by bribing or hiring with the help of some political party. It is rare to hear that someone was appointed to a position by having an adequate educational profile. Today, everyone are experts in everything, and it is easy for them to get a job at the position with which they do not have anything in common, especially if they are ranked high in some political party. Therefore, I wonder why the EU hasn’t already accepted Serbia in its community, when Serbs often do not need education for important functions. With politicians Serbia has and who would enter EU institutions, I guess that only two things would be possible – a total apocalypse and destruction of the Union, or maybe an eternal blissful state for the members of the EU. Who knows?
The problem is that the political stability in Serbia is determined by employing people sorted by party affiliation, so public companies have become little fiefdoms, often ruled by politically colored masters, posted by the party in power, which is for Serbia quite a normal thing and does not surprise anyone. This is what provides stability in Serbia, not mature and professional political decisions. Perhaps this is the practice in other countries, too, but I believe that here it is very obvious. Give a man bread, and he will be quiet and do whatever you ask him to do for you. Brain becomes redundant.
The situation in Serbia is such that anyone who has a job is considered to be lucky. And why not, when it allows basic existence, apartment, car, credit, going to the seaside (considered luxurious at the time of crisis if you are a Serb). Also, you can see a way to accomplish it faster – politics. When you see people who practically had nothing and were unknown, and suddenly see them in the expensive suit, on a television with national coverage, who also have a great car, an apartment at a good location, you realize that politics is the most lucrative business in Serbia. That’s why investing in production and industry is not a priority, but investing in politics. Why spend money on agriculture and manufacturing plants, whose products you could export and earn some money, when we are in good relations with the IMF? We can simply get a loan and patch holes in the budget, and no worries for now – your grandchildren will repay the loan.
If you’d like to start your own business, you should have a certain amount of money on your account, possibly a loan if you are able to repay it or have guarantors (it’s easier to find a pot of gold in Serbia, than guarantors sometimes). If you do not have savings kept ’’under the mattress’’, wealthy cousins working abroad and willing to send you some money, surplus real estate you can sell, or at the very least a kidney for sale, it is risky to start a private business. Once I heard that it is best not to have any business with the state, because the taxes are too high, so you have a part of the people who would like to start a private business, but taxes await them like huge and starved dogs. Even with a good idea and a fine initial starting money, there is still a risk feeling in the air. I wish it was easy to take foreign citizenship, and open the company here, so you might get some concessions, subsidies from the state. This way, you are completely on your own, though there are efforts of some associations to help private entrepreneurs, but without help from the state, the efforts are usually futile.
On the other hand, you can search for jobs and apply whenever possible. Visit the Employment Bureau, just in case, thought it’s a complete waste of time. However, there is the third possibility, the fastest if you have a feel to whom you should suck up and that’s politics. Politicians almost always have jobs for their faithful followers.
Accordingly, the Employment Bureau is unnecessary to you. The thing you need is a political party, which thanks to its actions has a tendency to slowly replace the National Employment Service since parties are main employers in Serbia. This is why the Employment Bureau is unnecessary. Because when you go to the Bureau, you will not get any job offers. If you join some political party, you will get not only the promise of a job post, but a sandwich and a soda, if you were a little more engaged in their activities. And if you have some acquaintances in the party, you might even get two sandwiches and a pat on the back for accomplished work tasks. But, job posts are reserved only for those at the top, that’s absolutely certain.
Naivety, gullibility and belief that someone will actually give you the job thanks to your intercession for a certain party has lured a large number of young people to try the easier way to get a job – the way of politics. Believing that they will surely get a job if their party wins the elections, it is not surprising to see young people posting posters on the streets, collecting signatures for their political bosses and doing similar activities, all for the benefit of their party.
However, you will certainly not see these young people having jobs, but you will most certainly see their party leaders.
If you still believe that you will get the job thanks to the party, if you collect a few dozen signatures, place a few posters and ruin your shoes going door-to-door promoting the party and its program, I have to tell you that you are on the wrong track. This can happen to one of thousands of people. Don’t be a sucker.
Remember that you are an independent person, remember your own dignity. Examine for whose interests you sacrifice your time, work all day and night if necessary, for whom do you lose the nerves, and your own resources? Invest in yourself, invest in your education, expand your horizons, do not just listen to one side, hear the other one! If you want success, get it yourself, there will be a lot of obstacles, it will be extremely difficult, but at least you will sleep peacefully, knowing that you may not lose your job when your party runs out a four-year term, because everyone is replaceable. And when taking business advice, listen to those who have already succeeded only by themselves. Nobody is going to give you a job for free, but if you’re willing to do anything to get a job, consider whether you are willing to pay any price to make it happen?
