In the Dolenjska and Bela Krajina regions there were a little less than five thousand unemployed people at the end of last year. Although the number of unemployed in the last year has dropped by one fifth, especially alarming is the fact that the share of long-term unemployed persons is on the rise. Figures from the Novo Mesto Employment Service say that 59 percent of all the job seekers are long-term unemployed persons. The head of the service Tatjana Muhič explains that the majority of those difficult-to-employ persons are older than 50 years. The population is ageing and many unemployed have health restrictions. 29 percent of all the long-term unemployed people in Dolenjska and Bela Krajina have a disabled person status.
Is someone over the age of 50 suitable for work in manufacturing?
Doctor Alenka Simonič, the head of the Novo Mesto health care centre, proposes a multifaceted treatment approach for the older unemployed, and warns that long-term routine work can harm their health. "However, there are also professions and jobs, and a doctor's profession is also among them, where after the age of 50 you reach the peak of your career." The doctor adds that age must not limit a man's employability.

Difficult-to-employ persons become a social problem.
The head of the Novo Mesto Social Work Centre, Alojz Simončič, warns that almost half of all the job seekers receive social security assistance.

An alarming figure of long-term unemployed persons in Bela Krajina.
Almost half of all the unemployed at the Črnomelj labour office are older than 50 years. Even more alarming is the fact that 70 percent of them are registered as long-term unemployed persons at the Employment Service.

Petra Držaj; translated by K. J.