More than half of Bulgaria's unemployed, nearly 87,000 individuals, lack professional qualifications, an increase of almost 8% from June 2023, according to the Employment Agency. Against this backdrop, KNSB reports that over 1,000 unemployed individuals have been trained through the "Chance for Green and Ecological Employment" project. This state-funded initiative, targeting those with low education and no qualifications in high-unemployment regions, focuses on training for jobs such as forestry workers, caregivers, and social assistants.

Unemployment figures reveal that over 68,000 of the unemployed have only primary or lower education, and around 36,000 have been registered with employment offices for over a year. Diana Naydenova, a labor market policy consultant at KNSB, highlighted that the project has partnered with 50 municipalities and healthcare institutions to train the unemployed.

“The project aims to equip people with essential skills and competencies, ensuring more valuable employment while maintaining the greenery in our cities,” said Naydenova. Funded by the National Employment Action Plan with nearly 1.5 million BGN from the state budget, the project aims to provide jobs for approximately 600 trained individuals.

However, the training revealed a problematic trend: some unemployed individuals registered for benefits continue working without contracts, exploiting the system. "They attend the course for a day or two and then disappear. Upon stricter measures for absenteeism, they admitted to working informally in companies while registered as unemployed, draining the social system. This calls for serious state intervention," Naydenova warned.