ILO Pilots AI Job Hub to Improve Job Matching in Bosnia and Herzegovina

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has launched a pilot AI-driven Job Hub in Bosnia and Herzegovina aimed at helping public employment services better match jobseekers with available vacancies and improve labour market intelligence.

The innovation addresses a persistent challenge in the country and across the Western Balkans, where job vacancies are scattered across numerous private online portals, making it difficult for public employment services (PES) to track available opportunities.

Because employers often advertise outside public systems, PES counsellors must manually search multiple websites and interpret job descriptions, slowing down job mediation and reducing the effectiveness of skills matching—particularly for vulnerable jobseekers.

AI Aggregates Job Vacancies in Real Time

Supported by the ILO Innovation Challenge Fund, the pilot platform automatically collects and harmonizes job advertisements from major national and local job portals.

By consolidating these listings into a single system, the Job Hub provides counsellors with real-time access to a wider pool of vacancies, enabling faster and more comprehensive job matching.

The platform's interface—available in English and Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian (BHS)—allows users to search and filter job listings by occupation, location, sector and job quality indicators.

Vacancies are updated daily, and the platform also offers structured data views and Excel export functions that can be integrated into daily workflows and policy analysis.

From Occupation Matching to Skills Matching

Beyond simply aggregating vacancies, the platform uses artificial intelligence to analyse job descriptions and identify required skills.

Through a text-to-skills interface, the system maps job requirements to the European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO) framework.

The AI also detects transversal and emerging skills that may not be fully captured within standard classifications.

This approach enables a shift from traditional occupation-based job matching—still common in many Western Balkan labour systems—toward a skills-based matching model, which better reflects the evolving demands of modern labour markets.

Promoting Job Quality

Another key feature of the Job Hub is its integration of job quality indicators aligned with ILO Decent Work principles.

Using semantic analysis, the system can identify signals related to:

• Contract stability

• Working time arrangements

• Pay transparency

• Occupational health and safety

• Potentially discriminatory language based on gender, age or disability

These features allow employment counsellors to assess not only whether a job matches a candidate's skills but also whether it meets minimum standards of decent work.

Supporting Employment Services and Jobseekers

If the pilot proves successful, the tool could be used daily by around 300 public employment service counsellors across Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Supported by the European Union, the platform could strengthen job mediation under Active Labour Market Policies (ALMPs).

For jobseekers—particularly those facing barriers to employment—the system could significantly improve access to job opportunities that better align with their skills and provide acceptable working conditions.

Building Long-Term Labour Market Intelligence

The Job Hub also lays the groundwork for a longitudinal vacancy database that could generate valuable insights into labour market trends.

Over time, the dataset could support:

• Labour shortage analysis

• Skills forecasting

• Education and training planning

• Evidence-based labour market policy

The initiative builds on knowledge exchanges with EU public employment services, including those in Sweden and Austria.

AI for Decent Work

The project demonstrates how artificial intelligence and data analytics can be integrated into employment services to improve labour market governance and support inclusive economic development.

The pilot was showcased during ILO Innovation Day on 3 March 2026, highlighting its potential to address institutional barriers, strengthen public employment services and protect vulnerable jobseekers.

By combining digital innovation with the principles of Decent Work, the AI-driven Job Hub represents a new approach to modernizing employment services in Bosnia and Herzegovina and potentially across the wider Western Balkans.