Economy of Lithuania - Workforce

Workforce

The number of the population aged 15 years and over is 2.85 million, and 1.52 million of them were employed in 2008. The population with higher education was 0.54 million, or more than 35% of employed people. This ratio demonstrates that workforce in Lithuania is one of the best-educated in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and is twice the EU-15 average. About 90% of Lithuanians speak at least one foreign language; every second person speaks two foreign languages and every third person speaks English .

Lithuania takes the first position in the EU by the number of students in the country. Compared to the EU's average of 15%, only 7% of 18–24 year-old people in Lithuania are not occupied with studies, the lowest percentage in the EU, announced the European Commission in the end of 2009. School-leavers can choose from 22 universities or 28 colleges for further studies, so 74% of pupils graduated from an upper secondary school continue studies in schools of higher education. Every year more than 30 thousand students graduate from universities or colleges, so the population with higher education is gradually increasing. The most popular higher education programs are business and administration, education science, law, and social sciences.

During the last decade (1998–2008) salaries have more than doubled in Lithuania. Despite this, labour costs in Lithuania are among the lowest in the EU. Average monthly net salary in the third quarter of 2009 was LTL 1665 (EUR 482) and decreased by 6% compared to the same quarter in 2008. The sharpest annual decrease in hourly labour costs in the EU of -10.9% was observed in Lithuania in the third quarter of 2009.

The unemployment rate in Lithuania is very volatile. Since the year 2001, the unemployment rate has decreased from almost 20% to less than 4% in 2007. This could be explained by two main reasons. Firstly, during the time of rapid economic expansion, numerous work places were established. This caused a decrease in the unemployment rate and a rise in staff expenses. Secondly, emigration has also reduced unemployment problems since accession to the EU. However, the current economic crisis has lowered the need for workers, so the unemployment rate increased to 13.8% and then stabilized in the third quarter of 2009.