Gjokutaj: In the region, a major problem is the mismatch between education and labor market needs

Economic expert from Tirana Eduart Gjokutaj told Kosovo Online that the problem of brain drain, but also the outflow of workers for basic services, is common to Albania, Kosovo, and Serbia, with Albania experiencing a large outflow of both highly educated professionals and mid level professions, Serbia being more concerned about brain drain than the outflow of mid level labor, while all categories are leaving Kosovo.

From Kosovo, according to Gjokutaj, both highly qualified professionals such as engineers, IT experts, and doctors are leaving, as well as mid level technicians, electricians, and plumbers.

He identifies as a major problem in the region the mismatch between education and what the labor market demands.

“This is most evident in Albania, where our vocational schools do not provide practical knowledge for creating true professionals. Our schools do not offer specialization in professions where it is most needed by the economy. Our economy is based on services, construction, and agricultural products, and schools do not offer such specialization, which forces most people to leave due to higher wages, either for security and a higher quality of life, or to build a career abroad, something that Albania does not offer,” Gjokutaj emphasized.
The same, he adds, is happening in Kosovo, Serbia, and Montenegro, but they have certain specific characteristics, such as a smaller outflow of highly qualified labor and a lower need to import such employees from abroad.

In addition to the export of labor, he points out, there is also an import of labor according to market demands.

“Generally, Albania imports workers for basic services, mainly in the tourism industry, construction, and other services, including agriculture. There is less import of highly qualified experts with high salaries, although the government has introduced fiscal incentive measures related to so called ‘digital nomads’ in order to offer opportunities for remote work in the technology sector,” Gjokutaj said.

Serbia, he notes, offers high quality professional jobs for engineers, construction projects, IT experts, and industry specialists, and less for filling basic jobs.

“Kosovo does not have this opportunity, as wages there are not attractive, but it tends to employ workers from abroad in processes more related to digitalization and mid level professions,” our interlocutor said.

Regarding unemployment, he states that Albania is estimated to have had the lowest unemployment rate in the region in the fourth quarter of 2025 at 8.3 percent, which, he says, is a result of economic growth, but more so of population decline, which has led to unmet labor market demand.

“At the same time, Kosovo has, according to the latest official statistics, dropped to around 14 percent from 20 percent a few years ago. This happened because the economy had higher demand, but the biggest problem in Kosovo is the lack of activation of the young workforce. Kosovo still holds the record for a young population. Serbia has a lower unemployment rate, around 9 percent, and has a different approach. The market in Serbia offers more compared to Albania or Kosovo, while the priority remains how to integrate its economy into European industrial value chains and with countries with which it has economic ties. The level of unemployment is linked to how each country develops its economy, as well as its labor market,” the economic expert pointed out.

Urgent measures that governments should take, especially in the case of Albania but also Kosovo, according to him, are fiscal incentive policies for categories that are difficult to integrate into the labor market.

“The main categories are young people, who have low participation in the labor market and whose needs are not adequately met, women who have fewer employment opportunities and lower wages than men. Incentive policies should help those categories of the population that need to be retained in the country and are considering emigration. We already know the reasons for emigration, so such policies can be applied to help young families, who are a category leaving more than before, but also to help increase productivity in the economy,” he suggested.

Increasing productivity, he concludes, is not achieved through short term measures, but through the creation of long term, bold policies to boost exports.

“The workforce must be qualified, and we must not rely only on the service sector, but on production in sectors that are more competitive in the international market,” Gjokutaj stressed.