Nearly a third of Bulgaria's working age population is unemployed despite the shortage of labour in a number of industries and the consistently lower jobless figures. Job centres have no record of some 1.6 million Bulgarians aged 15 to 64 that are unemployed. A third of that population is at college, on parental/maternal leave or is out of work for some other reason.

Another 340 000 Bulgarians are off the market because of near-retirement age while 225 000 are unemployed for medical reasons. A further 150 000 unemployed Bulgarians are not actively looking to get hired.

Another 107 000 people are not economically active. They are presumed to live off rent or jobs in the grey economy.

The great number of working age Bulgarians that are unemployed is notable in comparison with the jobless rate which has fallen below six per cent. Poor educational background is believed to be the main reason for so many people to give up on looking for a job.

Another problem is that 90 per cent of the demotivated live in rural areas or small towns where unemployment is higher. Human resource experts believe that the adoption of laws regulating part-time employment will cut sharply the number of unemployed.

Recruitment experts expect that the introduction of more flexible labor market rules could add one million people to the workforce.

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