BiH seeks increased import of foreign workers: "Our people don't want to work"
The Council of Ministers of BiH has set the quota of work permits for 2025 regarding the employment of foreigners in a total number of 7.229 work permits. Of these, 4.490 relate to the Federation of BiH, 2.000 to the Republika Srpska and 739 to the Brcko District in BiH.
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The largest number of permits were granted to the construction sector (1.727), the manufacturing industry (887) and the hotel and catering industry (584), while the most sought-after occupations are: construction workers, welders, locksmiths, cooks, waiters and truck drivers.
We remind you that In December last year, the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina adopted a Decision on a minimum wage in the net amount of 1.000 convertible marks, which caused dissatisfaction among businessmen who pointed out that due to this regulation there would be layoffs and losses, but also that the largest entrepreneurs and craftsmen would suffer at the expense of small entrepreneurs and craftsmen.
Due to the increase in the minimum wage, as well as the introduction of a non-working week, data showed that in Bihać the number of closed businesses exceeds the number of newly established ones. The question arises as to why, despite the already large number of people in offices, BiH is importing labor, and why exactly are workers being imported at a time when numerous problems have arisen due to the increase in the minimum wage?
The President of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Employers' Association, Adnan Smailbegović, explained that the largest number of foreign workers come from Turkey due to the visa-free regime that speeds up the arrival process, then from Asian countries such as India, Nepal, Bangladesh, the Philippines, and there are also announcements from Indonesia.
"The labor market has leveled off in the last few years, especially with the departure of domestic workers abroad. Today, you have a situation where demand is greater than supply. We have many applicants at the bureau, but these applicants are not active for insurance, because they simply depend on those who are looking for work and do not want to work, but go to the bureau to get health care, according to our analysis only 30 percent are job seekers," he explained.
