Government approves increasing quota for foreign workers to 65,100 in 2019

The quota for 2019 includes 20,331 more work permits compared to this year, with nearly 13,000 referring to tourism and construction, said the Labour Minister, Marko Pavic.

The quota, applied to non-EU workers and subdivided into quotas per sector, is set every year by the government in December. It is based on recommendations by various business associations and serves as an indicator of the shortage of workers, especially in areas such as tourism and construction.

The number of work permits for the construction sector will go up by some 6,000, to 17,800 next year, and for the tourist sector to by some 6,700, to 15,611 in 2019.

With that, we wish to ensure a stable workforce flow and support economic growth, which is projected at 2.9 percent next year, he added.

"At the same time, we are doing all we can to activate the domestic workforce, primarily through campaigns such as 'Find a job', he said, adding that there were some 147,860 jobless currently registered with the employment service, with some 20,211 job openings, and that 4.5 billion kuna (€606 million) had been earmarked for the employment of 147,000 jobless persons.

(€1 = 7.4 kuna)

Follow N1 via mobile apps for Android | iPhone/iPad | Windows| and social media on Twitter | Facebook.