Small and medium sized-enterprises (SMEs) are often
seen as a sector important for job creation. About 2/3 of the overall
employment is provided by this sector, both in the EU and in the
Republic of Serbia. There is evidence that SMEs are responsible for
the most part of the net employment growth. The SMEs sector in
Serbia is identified as sector which can absorb a part of the
unemployment generated by the large scale enterprises’ (LSEs)
restructuring and privatization. Today, the unemployment rate in
Serbia is high above the average unemployment rate in the EU.
The question is whether the SMEs sector can absorb that
unemployment, or is this sector more influenced by the crisis,
relative to the LSEs. The aim of this paper is to examine the
employment contribution of the SMEs in the Republic of Serbia.
Furthermore, the paper will deal with the impact of the crisis on
the SMEs’ employment, efficiency and their investment activities.
The problems that are identified by SMEs, and that lead to rising
unemployment in this sector over the past few years will be
considered and analyzed.