Labor resources in agribusiness in central-eastern Europe

The purpose of this study was to present the changes in agribusiness labor resources in CEE countries over the 1995–2014 period, and to examine whether the structure of these resources is observed to converge towards that of EU-15 countries. The number of agribusiness employees and the I/O tables were retrieved from Eurostat and WIOD databases. Indicators of structural change were used to assess the convergence of agribusiness employment structure in countries covered by this study towards that of EU-15 countries. The largest number of agribusiness employees was observed in Poland and Romania. In 1995–2014, all countries covered by this study experienced a reduction in the number of people working in the agribusiness. Despite the growing importance of the 1st sphere of agribusiness, the employment structure in agribusiness in most CEE countries continues to follow past patterns. In 2014, the average number of employees in the 1st and 3rd sector of agribusiness in these countries was 0.5, compared to 2.2 in EU-15. However, a positive aspect is the slow approximation of agribusiness employment structures in CEE countries towards that of EU-15 countries. As shown by the results, in about 10 to 14 years, most countries covered by this study are likely to attain the employment structure observed in EU-15 in 2014. However, it may take up to 40 years for these structures to fully converge.