Croatia raised the total quota for foreign workers to 65,100 in 2019 in an attempt to make up for shortages of skilled domestic workers, mostly in construction and tourism, the labour ministry said.
For 2018, Croatia had set the limit for foreign workers' licences at 38,769, according to data from the country's Employment Agency.
The decision to raise the foreign workers quota was taken after consulting all stakeholders, including employers and trade unions, prime minister Andrej Plenkovic said, as quoted in a statement by the labour ministry on Thursday.
The Croatian authorities will issue up to 50,100 permits for newly-contracted workers, 20,331 more than the current year, as almost 13,000 workers are needed for the tourism and construction sector, labour minister Marko Pavic said in the statement.
With this measure, the government wants to secure economic stability and growth, which is estimated at 2.9% for next year, he added.
At present Croatia has a total of 147,860 unemployed people and 12,211 vacancies, the labour ministry said.
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