Enabling Roma and Egyptian communities’ fair access to work is currently one of the most difficult challenges in the Albanian labor market.
NGOs focused on Roma rights state that some of the main reasons are judgment, discrimination, lack of education or not possessing a specific skill, which has all contributed to making their journey towards getting employed that more difficult. However, there are still many Roma and Egyptian youth who have completed their studies and been able to find a job in their profession.
This was the case with Olsi Sherifi. He has completed his studies for journalism at the Faculty of History and has been working at the National Radio Television for the past 5 years as a journalist writing news in the Roma language. Along with this, he is an activist and is continually involved in various national and international projects focusing on the rights of his community and the Roma language.
But his journey towards professional accomplishment and ultimately having a career hasn’t been easy, especially at the start.
“I started working when I was 16 years old by selling electronics in a market close to the No. 5 Hospital. I never skipped school and continued to attend my classes during this time. This went on until I decided to emigrate to Crete, Greece, during a summer holiday. I used to make a lot of money there because I worked with music, together with a cousin of mine that knew old Greek songs quite well. Later, in 2011, I met a guy from Croatia in a summer camp and we became friends – and it was out of this relationship that I was then contacted by the director of a Roma organization, who reminded me that I should not give up on my education and go back to school,” – said Sherifi.
This motivated Olsi to continue his undergraduate studies. From the very beginning of his time in university, he got involved with small local organizations where he worked on the rights of the Roma community as well as the advancement of the Roma language. However, he does admit that even though he was able to make it, this doesn’t, unfortunately, mean that the rest of the Roma community can, as their integration in society continues to be a challenge that will need to be overcome.
“The employment of members of the Roma community continues to be a challenge in and of itself. The ones who face the biggest difficulties however are those individuals who haven’t been to school or those who don’t have a certain profession. This group finds themselves excluded from any kind of employment. The only option left for them is to pick up recyclables from the trash and try to resell them after. For young Roma graduates, organizations are the main support network when it comes to finding employment.”
When it comes to his experience in the job market, Sherifi said that he hasn’t necessarily felt discriminated and according to him, the reason for this could be the fact that he is educated and trained in his specific line of work. He also described some of his dreams about being on television, especially in terms of having his own cultural show, which could include the promotion of talented youth be it in music or dance.
“Ibrahim Tatlises is my idol. I have been following him for years, his songs, his films, and the program he hosts titled ‘IBO SHOW’. I have worked hard to achieve this as well and make this dream come true but the opportunity hasn’t presented itself yet.”
Olsi said that he hasn’t given up yet. He will continue to work hard on actualizing his dream so that one day, he could have his own TV show.
Another success story from a member of the Roma community in the job market is E.Murati, a house painter who now has his own business.
Murati is a man in his 40s who lives and works in the city of Fier.
He is another example of a success story, who thanks to his work, has not only been able to provide for his family but also employ others.
He is a resident in the village of Baltez, Fier.
E.Murati is a decorator by profession. Through his profession, he was able to put together a small brigade of young workers who paint houses and other buildings.
“I emigrated to Greece when I was young – in Thessaloniki, where I worked many different kinds of professions. But at one point, I started working as a home painter. I worked for several years and learned this profession after which I returned to my country. In Albania, I’ve been working for 12 years as a house painter. In fact, I’ve even been able to employ others who are also from the Roma community. We feel comfortable, we work, we’ve learned this profession and everyone respects us and even reaches out to us to paint their homes or other types of work.”
In addition, Murati said that he is happy with the work he does even though it is difficult, he makes enough money to provide for his family of 5, which includes his 2 parents, his wife, and 2 children. In fact, he also said that he never thinks of emigration because here, he makes enough money, he feels very respected and he doesn’t feel judged at all in the place he lives and works in.
Brejdon Xhavara, a journalist and Roma and Egyptian rights activist, also confirmed that this community is faced with a lot of difficulties to find a job.
“Members from the Roma and Egyptian communities have a hard time finding a job, which all begins with their backgrounds because many of them haven’t gone to school and have instead opted for manual jobs like recycling, reselling used clothing, etc. These jobs have also been passed on from generation to generation. Discrimination is present in office environments, companies or administration. That’s why, for members of this community it’s difficult to fit in because they’re used to being paid cash or as soon as they finish their job, which could be why they fear trying out these other types of jobs because they would need to change the job environment, have to work for 8 hours and face new rules like only getting paid once a month.”
Xhavara recommended that there be at least a 2-year transitory period, during which someone from this community can transition to a formal job. According to him, this transition should start from their current places of work.
Meanwhile, he also added that more courses need to be offered to them, or professional schools that could be followed up by a 1-year internship in various companies – all of these serve as an encouragement to get them closer to these types of work.
If they would be educated or possessed a certain profession, this would be a great step for them and their integration into the job market. The Roma and Egyptian communities continue to face many difficulties from discrimination, the lack of education, and the lack of a profession, which all contribute to them feeling distanced from the job market.
In fact, according to NGOs that focus on Roma rights, many of them work in the informal economy. According to a 2016 study from UNDP, around 31.6% of Roma and 13.3% of Egyptians work in the used clothing market, whereas 35.1% of Roma and 12.8% Egyptians find work by collecting recyclable materials.
In recent years, in Albania, there have been several institutional attempts to enable better access to the job market for the Roma and Egyptian communities. The government has organized several activities that promote programs that offer professional classes and is committed to exploring ways to resolve this issue, in the framework of the commitments adopted in the Poznan Declaration between the six countries of the Western Balkans in 2019. The six leaders pledged to the achievement of this objective “Increase the employment rate of Roma in the public sector to the rate proportional to the participation of Roma in the overall population; Increase the employment rate among Roma to at least 25 percent.”
In addition, another possible solution to increasing employment in Roma communities would be transforming undeclared work into declared work, in a sustainable way. This means that the social aid received by the families engaged in undeclared work is a considerable portion of their income. In order to avoid the risk of pushing the workers and their families into deeper poverty, transformation of undeclared into declared work should be coupled with a gradual reduction of social aid instead of its immediate cut. Current social contributions and taxes on wages are considerable and not affordable for poor workers engaged in low-income (undeclared) work, as the net wage remaining from the gross earning is insufficient to provide for a decent life. Social contributions and taxes should be strongly subsidized at the beginning of the transformation of undeclared into declared work. The subsidies should be decreased gradually.
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