While the share of people working on fixed-term contracts stood at 8.4% in 1995, around 17% were in such employment in 2010, said Lenart Lah of the Statistics Office, stressing that the share is the fifth highest in the EU, behind those of the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Poland.

He added that 9% of the working active population were working part-time in 2010, he added.

The share of self-employment, which also counts as a flexible form of employment, is around the EU average in Slovenia and the share of part-timers is below EU average.

According to the Statistics Office, 60% of the working people under 35 are on fixed-term contracts. The share has doubled over the last ten years and will continue to grow if conditions remain unchanged, Lah said.

As everyone formally employed in Slovenia is insured for the case of losing their job, a third of those registered with the Employment Service received a compensation in the first ten months of 2011, with the average gross compensation amounting to EUR 650.

Slovenia's survey unemployment surged 65% from the pre-crisis 2008 to 2010, with the figure almost doubling among young people, according to Lah.

Young people are the most vulnerable group as regards job-hunting, as they tended to prolong their studies due to the unresponsive labour market, but ended up unemployed nevertheless, he explained.