3. Employment & Entrepreneurship
In Serbia, the employment may be established with a person at least 15 years of age. If a person is under the age of 18, the employment may be established with the written consent of the parent, adoptive parent or guardian, provided that such work does not endanger his or her health, morals and education, or if such work is not prohibited by law.
In recent years, especially from 2016, youth employment and entrepreneurship have become a topic of public interest. As youth unemployment rate remains high, different top-level measures are active and annually revised to overcome youth unemployment and alleviate brain drain.
The year of 2016 was the Year of Entrepreneurship in Serbia (Godina preduzetništva), which turned into the Decade of Entrepreneurship (Decenija preduzetništva). In 2017, entrepreneurs had more than 30 programmes available and more than RSD 18 billion from the state budget. Different promotional activities, workshops, competitions took place in that period and raised awareness about youth entrepreneurship and self-employment.
Different public authorities are responsible for youth employment and entrepreneurship in Serbia:
- Ministry of Labоr, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs (Ministarstvo za rad, zapošljavanje, boračka i socijalna prava)
- Ministry of Tourism and Youth (Ministarstvo turizma i omladine),
- Ministry of Education (Ministarstvo prosvete)
- Ministry of Economy (Ministarstvo privrede)
- National Employment Service (Nacionalna služba za zapošljavanje)
- Development Fund of the Republic of Serbia (Fond za razvoj Republike Srbije)
- Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Privredna komora Srbije)
- Development Agency of Serbia (Razvojna agencija Srbije), etc.