February 7 (SeeNews) - The Croatian government said it plans to scrap the annual quotas for foreign employees in an attempt to address labour shortage on the domestic market, especially during the peak summer season.
The changes envisage that local employers contact the Croatian Employment Service (HZZ) when they need new workers, as HZZ will then come up with an opinion on their hiring plans based on the current state of the market, the government said in a statement on Thursday.
If HZZ establishes that there are no unemployed Croatians meeting the requirements of the employer, the companies will be able to apply for a work and stay permit for foreign nationals. The procedure for issuing such permits will take up to 45 days, the government said, adding that the process could be shortened to up to 15 days for professions of high demand, and up to 10 days for seasonal employment.
In November, the government decided to issue 103,740 work permits to foreign nationals in 2020, up by some 40,000 compared to 2019, in an attempt to make up for the shortages of skilled domestic workers, mostly in construction and tourism where seasonal workers are in high demand.