Characteristics of the Serbia labor market

The labor force is one of the major assets of the region

Central and Eastern Europe is one of the most important developing regions. In 2006, 12 German chambers of commerce for the first time conducted a survey among 1000 German companies operating in 14 countries, concerning the investment climate in the region of East Europe.

The companies are generally satisfied with the conjuncture, and even more with their own business results: more than half of the companies surveyed said their operating results were good, and 42% of them deem their results to be satisfactory.

The surveyed companies generally assessed the overall business climate positively. Where prospects for 2006 are concerned, Serbia occupies the second position, with two thirds of respondents expecting the economic situation to improve.

The most optimistic were the German firms operating in Latvia, Serbia, Macedonia and Lithuania – over 75% of them said they count on improved conditions for doing business.

With regards to investment intentions in 2006, the findings of the German Foreign Trade Chambers (AHK) show the need to „catch up in the South“. Thus, 61% of the companies intend to invest in Serbia in this year.

In response to the question whether they would choose this region again for investments, 84% of respondents said they would invest in Serbia again, while 16% answered this question negatively.


Some of the attractive elements of the labor market in Serbia are:

- A high concentration of well-educated people
- Excellent foreign language skills
- Competitiveness of labor costs


Source: Report on the Conjuncture, 2006, German Chambers of Commerce Abroad