In order to attract foreign nationals to work in elderly care, Croatia needs to improve its qualifications recognition system, facilitate further training and language learning, and ensure social integration, the Institute of Public Finance (IJF) says in its latest publication.

The IJF noted that the European Commission presented the European Care Strategy in September recommending migrant workers as a possible solution to the labour shortage in the long-term care sector.

The coronavirus pandemic has shown many vulnerabilities of the long-term elderly care sector, notably the lack of staff, including nurses and carers.

“The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has long warned of this, and the European Commission presented the European Care Strategy in September 2022. The strategy aims to ensure quality, affordable and accessible care services in EU member states and improve the status of formal and informal care recipients and providers. The strategy suggests migration as one of the key solutions to the problem of labour shortages,” Marijana Badjun wrote in the IJF publication.

The European Commission estimates that the EU will need over 1.6 million extra workers by 2050 to ensure that their number per 100 beneficiaries remains the same. Among the recommendations to attract and retain employees in long-term care is the need to increase pay, improve working conditions, ensure upskilling and foster social dialogue.

However, it is increasingly difficult for nursers and carers to wait for the Commission’s recommendations to be implemented so they are resorting to strikes or protests across Europe. Many of the workers left the long-term care sector during the pandemic, as a result of which those who have remained are now under even greater strain.

Croatia, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia  experiencing “a care drain”

Croatia is among the EU countries that are experiencing “a care drain”, and Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovenia are in a similar situation. Workers from these countries are emigrating to wealthier countries in search of higher pay and better working conditions, further exacerbating the labour shortage problem in their own countries, whose populations are also ageing.

According to data from the Croatian Chamber of Nurses, 2,400 nurses have left Croatia since the country joined the EU in 2013. Currently there is a shortage of 4,000 nurses in the healthcare sector, while the shortage of long-term carers is not known.

It is time that the government elaborated on some of its proposals, not just for potential foreign workers but also for domestic nurses and carers, who work very hard, but are underpaid. Since nurses in long-term care are less paid than nurses in the healthcare system, this should probably be one of the first topics to discuss, the IJF said.

It is key to ensure appropriate upskilling and quality language learning for foreign workers and develop programmes for their social integration. The European Commission will seek to harmonise the criteria for the recognition of qualifications for third-country nationals, which will allow them greater mobility, the IJF said.