UNIVERSITIES AND THE LABOUR MARKET: IS HIGHER EDUCATION KEEPING UP WITH THE CHANGING NEEDS OF THE ECONOMY?
In North Macedonia, rapid changes in the economy and technology have raised the question of whether the higher education system is managing to produce graduates who meet the demands of the labour market. Although new universities and study programmes have been introduced in recent years, experts argue that a gap still exists between the skills students acquire during their studies and the competencies employers require.
An analysis by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on North Macedonia indicates that higher education programmes do not always reflect labour market needs. According to the report, companies in the country face difficulties in finding workers with practical and technical skills, while some graduates are employed in positions that do not correspond to their qualifications.
Investigative journalist Goran Lefkov from the Centre for Investigative Journalism SCOOP says that many university programmes continue to rely on outdated models developed during a period when the economy and labour market requirements were significantly different.
“University programmes in North Macedonia, in my opinion, are quite outdated. They are still based on a model from previous times, when professional specialisation was oriented differently and when needs were determined by the planned economy we had in the 1990s,” says Lefkov.
According to him, changes have been introduced in the higher education system over the years, including the opening of private universities and the creation of new study programmes. However, he believes that the lack of a long-term and systematic approach has prevented these reforms from achieving the expected results.
Lefkov points out that although there are now new universities and various study programmes, there are still situations demonstrating insufficient coordination between educational institutions and the economic sector.
“Today we have new universities, new study programmes and the creation of new graduates, but we also have many paradoxical situations that show the lack of coordination between universities and the economic sector,” he says.
As an example, he refers to the healthcare sector, where, according to him, there is a mismatch between the number of graduates and the actual needs of the system.
“Every year North Macedonia produces 1,000, 1,500, or even 2,000 doctors, but never before has there been such a significant shortage of doctors in the healthcare system as there is today. Even in the 1950s and 1960s, when there were far fewer doctors, the shortage was not as pronounced as it is today,” says Lefkov.
According to experts, one of the main challenges remains the mismatch between the knowledge acquired through education and the skills demanded by the labour market. The OECD has noted that a significant share of graduates who find employment have qualifications that do not fully correspond to their jobs, while some are overqualified for the positions they hold.
Speaking about reforms that would help students integrate more easily into the labour market, Lefkov says universities should place greater emphasis on practical skills and specialised knowledge, as rapid technological development causes theoretical knowledge to become outdated very quickly.
“There should be a much stronger focus on practical knowledge and narrow specialisations rather than providing broad knowledge, because while students are still at university, part of their knowledge has already become outdated in relation to labour market needs,” he says.
According to Lefkov, this is particularly evident in fields related to artificial intelligence and new technologies, where changes are so rapid that they require continuous updating of knowledge.
He believes that reforms should not be limited only to higher education but should also include secondary vocational education. According to him, it is necessary to reorganise educational fields that no longer correspond to economic needs, strengthen practical training, and create opportunities for young people to gain professional experience during the education process, so that after graduation they can enter the labour market more easily.
The text was developed within the project “Advocacy for Inclusive Development,” financially supported by the Government of Switzerland through the Civica Mobilitas programme.
The content of this text is the sole responsibility of the Forum for Reasonable Policies, IOHN and BIRC and in no way can be considered to reflect the views of the Government of Switzerland, Civica Mobilitas or the implementing organisations.
