Gov't okays issuance of 3,000 more work permits for foreigners in tourism and construction

The Croatian government on Wednesday decided to increase the quota for foreign workers in the tourism and hospitality industry as well as in the construction sector following the requests by employers who have warned that labour shortage could undermine the tourist season. Thus, 2,000 more work permits will be issued in the tourist industry, which means that a total number of foreigners hired in this sector rises from 10,611 to 12,611 with a possibility of issuing an additional 1,000 work permits for foreigners, if necessary.

The quota for foreign workers in the construction industry will rise by 1,000 to 18,8000 work permits for foreign nationals, and this sector can count on an additional 1,000 permits, also if necessary.

As a result, the intake of foreign workers for 2019, which was initially 65,100, has been revised upward to 68,100.

Additional work permits can be issued only if it is established that the Croatian Employment Service does not register any local job-seekers available to fill vacancies.

When it comes to work permits for temporary employment in the season, now the quota includes 6,800 foreign workers for seasonal jobs in the tourism and hospitality industry plus 1,540 work permits for foreigners in the agriculture and forestry sector, which is a total of 8,340 work permits for temporary workers from abroad as against 6,540 in the past.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic said today that this was the only logical decision after the government did its best to enable the hiring of Croatian workers and enable the jobless to return to the labour market.

"These are the times when there are employment opportunities for all who want to work, and a precondition for that is to give a proper wage. Considering the needs of the tourism sector and a gap between the number of vacancies advertised and the number of applications, this is the way to make the season successful," he explained.

Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli said that the latest intake would stabilise the situation on the labour market of the tourism sector and that apart from these short-term measures, the government was thinking of long-term measures to address the issue. In the long run, centres of competence for staff training and other measures will provide the sector with high-quality employment, he said. (Hina)

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