No matter how paradoxical it sounds, the economy of Bosnia and Herzegovina is crying out for labor from abroad. With the quota for this year, the employment of six thousand foreigners was approved. However, this is not nearly enough given the needs of our economy. Estimates are that, at this moment, Bosnia and Herzegovina lacks several tens of thousands of workers in various professions.
Employers claim that Bosnia and Herzegovina lacks 30 thousand workers – 20 thousand in the Federation of BiH and ten thousand in the Republic of Srpska, and that this year’s quota of six thousand work permits for the extension and new employment of foreigners is insufficient. A special problem, employers say, is that the procedure for approving work permits for foreigners is very complicated and takes a long time.
ADNAN SMAILBEGOVIĆ, President of the Association of Employers of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
“The procedures are simply so strict, so rigorous, take so long, so bureaucratized that it takes you almost a year or ten months to bring in a worker, if you bring one at all. So, in the meantime, very often people give up or our authorities here which level they don’t allow”.
SAŠA AĆIĆ, director of the Union of Employers of the Republic of Srpska
“If today we have a situation where a worker leaves the company and goes to the European Union, it can be treated as if our economy supported a foreign economy in one day. We then wait six or seven months or two or three months to replace that worker with a worker from abroad “.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs of BiH points out that the conditions and procedures for employment of foreigners are prescribed by the Law on Foreigners at the state level, and entity laws. It is a complex issue because, in addition to the competent entity and Brčko District institutions, the Ministry of Security of BiH and the Service for Affairs with Foreigners are involved in the process of issuing work permits to foreign workers.
“In addition to procedural aspects, security aspects and checks must also be taken into account. For the reasons mentioned, the procedures sometimes take a long time,” the Ministry says.
Economists believe that our administration at all levels does not understand the current economic situation at all, and that instead of going in the direction of shortening procedures or even abolishing work permit quotas for foreigners, it once again shows that it is not interested in the needs of businessmen.
ZORAN PAVLOVIĆ, economic analyst
“The bureaucrats in the ministries have absolutely no ear for the real situation in the economy and the needs that the economy has. The administration’s boasting and lack of concern for the economy is dragging us towards an even worse position, and for now we are second to last in Europe. Only Albania is worse than us.”
The domestic labor market is shaken due to unfavorable demographic and migration trends. Estimates are that, like neighboring countries, we too will need about 100 thousand workers in the next few years in areas such as construction, hospitality and the processing sector. If the employment of foreigners is not liberalized as soon as possible, we can very quickly end up in a situation where our companies will be left without workers, and the state will be left without income to fill the health and pension funds, BHRT writes.
