"Over the last decade, significant global and regional forces including changes in technology, trade patterns, and business practices, with a steady shift in value added production and employment toward knowledge-intensive activities and services such as finance, the hospitality industry, and the retail trade, have been affecting the production and occupational structures of most developed economies.
Many countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia have also experienced ongoing exposure to international product and labor markets, some via integration with the European Union (EU), and in general experiencing more international competition and labor migration. The acceleration of growth, the easy access to credit during the financial boom, and improvements in business and labor regulations in some countries boosted labor demand. On the supply side, key factors in some countries included shifts in labor force participation rates, cross-border migration, and changes in social benefits th
