Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all.

After family, community and school, the labor market is a major locus of social contact and integration.  Participation in the work force is not only a source of income and social insurance, but of social interaction, peer respect and a sense of self-worth. 

The BiH labor market participation rate in 2018 was 54.2% and has declined gradually for the past decade.  It is now by a small margin, the lowest in the region. 

The labor market in BiH recovered more slowly than its neighbors from the successive shocks of conflict, botched privatization, and the 2009 global financial crisis.  The greater part of the formal labor force remains in public employment or state-owned enterprises and private sector employment is poorly regulated, insecure and subject to a range of non-standard practices due to the lack of legal oversight and enforcement, while the estimated 25% in informal employment is outside of the social insurance system. 

The Public Employment Service is seriously underfunded and judged to be generally ineffective in either securing employment or providing retraining.  Despite measures to improve employment access for people with disabilities, their integration into the formal labor force remains low, as well as that of members of other vulnerable groups, particularly Roma, those with incomplete or only primary school education, older workers and lower income quintile women with care responsibilities.  

The formal labor market in BiH has been unable to integrate large numbers of the young, the old, women, people with disabilities, disfavored minorities and other members of vulnerable groups.  These recommendations address some, although by far not all, of the shortcomings described in this report.