Some 31 private sector companies offered more than 300 vacancies at the newest job fair in the city of Berat, south-central Albania. The participating companies said they see the event as a human resources marketplace and recruitment centre for skilled, talented and educated local citizens. Businesses also said they offer training programs for jobseekers that lack the required skills for a range of jobs on offer. Prime Minister Edi Rama, accompanied by the Deputy Finance and Economy Minister, Danja Sorensen, and the head of the regional Employment Service Office in Berat, Migena Toto, attended the event.

Toto said that the employment service had achieved the hiring objectives set for the two previous months of March and April, while encouraging final results are expected in May. “The participating companies, employers and training providers are offering more than 300 new jobs in the 2018 regional job fair for job seekers in Berat, Skrapar and Kuçove,”  Migena Toto said.

Deputy Finance and Economy Minister Danja Sorensen, closely following the fair’s progress, welcomed the ambition and desire of young people, who express readiness to take up seasonal jobs. “It was quite interesting seeing young people expressing interest to work during the summer season and this is a great message to all young people who want to integrate into the labour market and gain working experience at an early age,” Sorensen said.

Prime Minister Edi Rama lauded regional employment service office for achieving recruitment objectives, saying the Berat employment service is one of most active one across the country. He encouraged all jobseekers, including the unskilled jobless people, to take up jobs and attend training programs and step by step develop the required skills and earn more.  “The entire process is being completely transformed especially here in Berat, as local employment service offices are very active in hiring and recruiting jobseekers. The regional office has achieved is objectives and encouraging results are expected to be announced in May too, but based on the outcome of the two previous months, when a different approach on organizing the process was adopted, and considering the May projections, I am confident we will hit a threshold of 10 000 individuals employed by the employment services to date. Therefore, the objective of the national employment service to find a job for over 25 000 jobseekers until the end of year, apart from the new jobs and recruitment by the private companies outside this process, is achievable and it is a significant objective showing that whoever really wishes to work should not wait for a government job only, but take up a job in the private sector,” Prime Minister Rama said.