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Soft Competencies in Bulgaria

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  • Jiri Balcar

Abstract

Bulgaria is witnessing the growing importance of soft competencies for individual success on the labour market. This paper is, therefore, focused on the identification of employers’ needs for soft competencies and their comparison with soft competecies of students, who represent significant part of future labour supply. Questionnaire surveys among 86 employers (representing 12,434 employees) and 394 students were conducted in Sofia in the period between September and October 2012 in order to gather relevant information. The findings show that there are five soft competencies and that their development should support employability and productivity of Bulgarian graduates. They are customer orientation, co-operation, efficiency, independence and problem solving

Suggested Citation

  • Jiri Balcar, 2013. "Soft Competencies in Bulgaria," Economic Alternatives, University of National and World Economy, Sofia, Bulgaria, issue 2, pages 88-99, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:nwe:eajour:y:2013:i:2:p:88-99
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Education; Soft competencies; graduates; employability;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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