Transformations  in
Business & Economics

STRATEGIC GUIDELINES OF INCREASING EMPLOYMENT AND REDUCING UNEMPLOYMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF EU (LITHUANIAN CASE)
Ona Grazina Rakauskiene, Laima Okuneviciute-Neverauskiene

ABSTRACT.The purpose of the article is to provide strategic guidelines for increasing employment and reducing unemployment in Lithuania with regard to the EU strategic documents in the field of employment, the European Commission's communiques, the European Council decisions, studies, recommendations to Member States made by the International Labour Organization. The paper presents and analyses the present situation in the EU labour market; the present situation is without precedent throughout the total historical period of the EU's existence. The most pressing problems of the labour market in Lithuania (unemployment of young people, long-term unemployed, and women) are brought in this context, and their fundamental causes are disclosed. The scenarios of increasing employment in Lithuania are identified and proposed after a thorough analysis of the global and EU strategic documents. The article states that the employment-friendly macroeconomic policy-making is a fundamental strategic guideline in order to address the problems of employment and social economic inequality. It is necessary to implement the macro-economic policies aimed at full employment in Lithuania; the macro-economic policies should ensure dignified jobs and expand the employment opportunities, foster to adopt the necessary measures in the labour market and business in order to eliminate the effects of the crisis and at the same time to ensure stability of the public finance and tax bases. Creation of the green economy, organic farming, and green jobs are other strategic guidelines. The green economy and green jobs development are one of the priority directions of increasing employment in Lithuania. It is appropriate to integrate the idea of green jobs in the national employment plan, creating a system of indicators of eco-employment, integration of labour training needs in the region, city, and municipal strategies through such means as active labour market policies and lifelong learning.

KEYWORDS: employment, unemployment, social cohesion, macro-economic policy, green economy, strategic guidelines for increasing employment, Lithuania.

JEL classification: O150, D630, J600, J420.