40% of the budget of Operational Programme "Human Resources Development" are allocated to improve the quality of human capital

40% of the budget of Operational Programme "Human Resources Development" are allocated to encourage economic activity of the unemployed and to increase productivity of employees, the Minister of Labour and Social Policy Totyo Mladenov announced during a meeting with business representatives in Pleven after the off-site session of the Council of Ministers held in the town. Officials from the regional structures of the Employment Agency, Mayors from the region and citizens attended the meeting dedicated to employment, active labor market policy and opportunities provided by Operational Programme "Human Resources Development".

The Ministry of Labour and Social Policy aims to create mechanisms for the preparation of skilled labour force that meets the requirements of business while providing funds directly to employers to invest in staff, said Minister Mladenov. He introduced the participants to the "Development" scheme of Operational Programme "Human Resources Development". Under the scheme, unemployed are trained to acquire and improve their professional qualification and knowledge in accordance with the needs of the business. So far more than 39,000 unemployed persons were trained, and jobs were opened for more than 24 000 of them. For them funding amounting to the country’s minimum wage for a period of 9 to 12 months were allocated. So far BGN 58 million were utilized under the scheme, Minister Mladenov summarized. He urged the business to make utmost use of the financial opportunities provided by the Operational Programme and said that in Bulgaria there are about 300 000 companies, 98% of which are SMEs. At the same time there are around 370 000 unemployed, over 50% of whom are uneducated or only have lower educational degree. If every employer hired at least one unemployed person, unemployment levels would drop significantly, Minister Mladenov pointed out.

219 490 persons were included in various trainings since the launch of the Operational Programme until 12 April 2012. 106,177 of them attended courses for acquiring professional qualification and 113 313 – courses for key competencies. According to data of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, 160 800 people have successfully completed the training. Of these, 80 799 acquired new or improved their professional qualifications and 80 001 were trained for key competencies. So far, around BGN 24 million of the funds granted under Operational Programme "Human Resources Development" were spent for trainings.