40% of the graduates in Bulgaria do not work according to what they studied, and more than half of the Bulgarians have experienced at least one change in the workplace or the technologies they have worked with, according to data from the Bulgarian Industrial Association, presented during a meeting with the members of the Bulgarian network of the UN Global Compact. The event promoted initiatives of the Bulgarian Industrial Association, implemented individually or in partnership, which focus on improving the quality of workforce and the labor market in the country.

The information system MyCompetence.bg supports the Bulgarian business in the management of human capital through free training resources, tests for assessment of competencies, as well as in the creation of comprehensive programs for personal professional development and programs for human resources management in companies. Over 2.6 million visitors are registered in the system, of which 55,000 are active users. The resources of the platform are also used by 21 universities and 17,000 students. 29,000 Bulgarians have successfully completed e-training courses and competency assessment tools. The statistics also show that more than 1300 competence profiles have been developed for key positions in the information system, and the platform is suitable for self-assessment of employees, but also for assessment of employee performance by employers. Over 40 tools are available to users - tests, adapted and validated for the Bulgarian context, described specific positions with the skills and competencies that employees must have.

160,000 Bulgarians who have acquired the right to a pension since the beginning of the year have stated before the labor offices in the country that they want to continue working and are looking for a job. This became clear from the presentation of the second initiative of BIA in partnership with the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria, which is aimed at creating conditions and policies for returning to the labor market of the elderly and those with chronic diseases. ‘It is not true that the elderly do not want to develop and learn, they just do it differently and they need other methods of support,’ said Tomcho Tomov, head of the National Center for Competence Assessment at BIA. The fact is that there are already four different generations of employees with different attitudes towards technologies and work processes in this workplace, and this is a challenge for employers in our country, Tomov added. The initiative will develop various tools for employers who have hired the elderly, including risk assessment tools, manuals for dealing with Burnout syndrome in the elderly, aids for working with patients with various chronic diseases, etc.

The program director of the National Patient Organization, Alexander Milanov, presented the project of the organization in cooperation with BIA, aimed at the integration on the labor market of persons with chronic diseases and disabilities. The partnership initiative, funded by the OPHRD, aims to support 200 relatives of people with disabilities, as well as 200 relatives of people with expertises of permanently reduced working capacity in the framework of their employment.