Labour Minister Josip Aladrovic said on Tuesday that the job keeping measure was intended to remain in place until the end of the year in sectors where it was necessary and that Croatia was now moving to the job creation stage, for which more than a billion kuna has been set aside.

“We have secured some funding for the shortened working hours measure and for the job keeping measure. We hope and expect that these measures will not be intense next year because we are moving to the job creation stage, for which we have secured over a billion kuna,” Aladrovic said in response to questions from the press on the sidelines of a conference organised by the Livit company under the government’s auspices.

Aladrovic said that this would be the direction in which the country would be going in 2022. He, however, reiterated that “we will be at the service of workers and employers as long as necessary.”

He said that about 40 million kuna was currently being paid out for 12-15,000 workers as part of the job keeping measure.