Bulgaria faces immediate challenges stemming from a steep demographic decline and uncertainties about future skills demands in the country. Workers tend to be fairly confident about the relevance of their own skills to the labour market. However, the share of low performers in the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) continues to be relatively high and employers report increasing difficulties in finding qualified workers. Despite their concerns, employers invest relatively little in the upskilling of their employees. The modest increase in educational attainment identified in the last few years may be insufficient to ensure a good alignment between the supply of skills and the demands of the labour market.
The OECD Skills Strategy Bulgaria: Assessment and Recommendations project (Q1 2022-Q1 2023) will assess Bulgaria’s skills performance and provide recommendations for improvement of young people’s skills, adults’ skills, the effective use of skills as well as for improving the governance of the skills system. It is intended that “The development of a National Skills Strategy for the Republic of Bulgaria” project will build on the findings and recommendations of the OECD Skills Strategy Bulgaria project and will help their operationalisation.