“In the second quarter of 2017, employment rate for the population aged 15-64 was 57.3%. During this quarter, in annual terms, employment shows a tendency of growth and compared to the same quarter of 2016, employment has increased by 3.4%. Meanwhile, in quarterly terms, compared to the first quarter of the year 2017, employment registered a growth of 1.8%”, experts of INSTAT say on this. Meanwhile, they also confirm the fact that while the country prepares for elections, political parties offer people more jobs as an alternative to gaining more votes from them. Experts also say that in such periods, the country has more job offers (temporary ones) that relate to the electoral process such as the ones relating to events of the election campaign, preparations for the voting process, the process of ballot counting and so on. In this point of view, the elections can be considered as a good “omen” for the country, while people obtain many facilities offered by their politicians, such as amnesties, salary and pension increases and many jobs.
Services generate more job opportunities than other sectors of economy
Services continue to generate more employment opportunities than other sectors of economy in Albania, leaving behind potential sectors such as agriculture, industry, etc. In other words, Albanians find more jobs in hotels, restaurants, etc. as opposed to other sectors, which for other countries, are key sectors for the economy. So, according to the Institute of Statistics, growth of employment in the service sector during the second quarter of this year, compared to a year ago, was 9%. Meanwhile, this increase was followed by a 2.5% increase in the industry sector. As far as agriculture is concerned, a sector which is supposed to offer a high level of employment, many Albanians are leaving this sector, by choosing urban areas to live and work. “In the agricultural sector, there was a 1.7% decline in employment compared to a year ago”, experts of the Institute of Statistics say, offering a picture of the way the economy attracts employed people from one period to another. On the other hand, the fact that during the pre-election period, more people were employed in the service sector, shows that it favors the creation of new jobs in profiles that relate to electoral services. Here, we can mention jobs offered for the organization of rallies or different events, jobs relating to ballot counting, etc.
Industry dominates in Durres, services dominate in Tirana, agriculture dominates in Elbasan
The map of the distribution of jobs according to key sectors of the economy changes according to the different districts of the country. So, being the main district of the country in terms of population, Tirana has the biggest number of people employed in the service sector, but it is not at the top when it comes to other sectors. For instance, when it comes to agriculture, it can be easily said that it ranks last on a national level with only 4.7% of farmers working in it.
Meanwhile, the district of Elbasan is on top of the list as far as the sector of agriculture is concerned, with around 65% of the total number of employed people. This district is followed by the district of Fier with 62%, but also the district of Kukes with a similar figure. Meanwhile, the industry sector, as far as the number of employed people is concerned, is concentrated in the district of Durres with around 40% of the total, leaving behind the capital which has only 25.5% of the total number of employed people working in this sector. Another important district as far as industry is concerned, is the district of Vlora, with 30% of the total number of employed Albanians working in this sector. This shows that this district has a big impact on the economy of the country.
