By Metamorphosis Foundation
During the coronavirus crisis, some young people in North Macedonia saw the opportunity to start their own businesses or to adapt their existing businesses to the new normal that was imposed by the restrictive measures against the coronavirus.
This is contrary to widely held positions that advocate apathy and emigration as solution for low level of economic opportunities in North Macedonia, in particular outside of the capital Skopje (which serves as the biggest local market for consumer goods). Analysis of youth underemployment conducted by the NGO Finance Think indicated that at 49 percent, the unemployment rate among youth in 2015 was almost double the national average of around 25 percent. A 2019 survey showed that 52 percent of youth considered leaving the state in order to make a decent living. According to Eurostat data for 2020, the overall unemployment rate has dropped to 16 percent, while youth unemployment remains very high at 29.5 percent.
Several studies by Finance Think show that the COVID-19 outbreak severely disrupted labour market conditions as lockdowns, closure of borders and movement restrictions contributed to reduced activity, interrupting supply chains, production and sale.
The stories that were told to Meta.mk by Teona Mango, Goran Bakrevski and Darko Milevski, entrepreneurs from Bitola, a city in the south of the country, provide examples of young people who have dealt with the crisis in a creative and positive manner.
Blogger Teona Mango is the founder of Beyond Green, an eco-friendly and sustainable fashion brand founded in 2020. Beyond Green’s products аre made from ecological and sustainable materials, and the idea behind the brand is to promote an ecological and green way of life, while, at the same time, lowering production and the use of products that are polluting the environment.
Mango said that the pandemic also changed her shopping habits, and explained:
“The people began shopping online instead of shopping in stores. Also, all of the products I purchased were bought from an e-store,” Mango explains.
Goran Bakrevski works as a dentist, but this profession was among the first that were harshly hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that during the first three months of the pandemic he didn’t work at all, so he had enough time to dedicate himself to the production of BAK craft beer, which is “100% natural.”
Bakrevski explained:
Darko Milevski is a former football player and his profession had always dictated his diet. He used to live in Sweden, but he returned to Bitola, where three years ago he opened the vegetarian and vegan restaurant Centar. His goal was to educate young people about healthy foods, but also to teach them return to their roots i.e. to make plant foods more present in the diet.
He pinpoints that the coronavirus crisis enticed them in the right manner to make some changes, since, as he says, we are all pretty static and have learned to operate in our comfort zones, so this crisis has only accelerated our efforts. Milevski is happy with the reaction of the people of Bitola and wants to spread his brand in other cities.
“The young people are researching the ways of nutrition and are slowly changing their eating habits,” concluded Milevski.
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This post was previously published on globalvoices.org and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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