Training Intentions and Skills Needs in the Private Sector Companies in Serbia

Abstract

This paper provides an analysis of the private sector companies’ training intentions and an assessment of the occupational and skills needs in the Serbian labour market. A substantial part of the analysis was carried out using the Employers Survey data as well as data from other relevant sources. The main results of this analysis indicated the net employment growth. A rising demand was primarily revealed in the occupational classes encompassing services, craft and related trade workers, followed by professionals and skilled blue colour workers ranked as the second and third ones. A significant deficit was identified in the group of occupation-specific skills and wider competencies. The companies’ training intentions signalled to the permanent need for the enhancement of present and future employees’ skills. Some shortcomings of the available data sources are emphasized, and directions for future research are proposed.