For years, Serbia has been lacking workers in certain professions, primarily in crafts, as well as in the service sector.
In order to make up for this shortage, the inflow of workers from abroad into our country has increased significantly, and data from the Statistical Office of the Republic show that compared to about ten years ago, their number is as much as 9.5 times higher. Since there have not been enough domestic workers, many have gone to countries of the European Union (EU), and foreign workers in Serbia are an inevitability in certain sectors.
This is confirmed by the data: in 2024, around 80.000 foreign workers received work permits in Serbia; last year, although there are still no official figures, even more than that, and it is estimated that this year our country could be short of as many as 100.000 workers. Most of them come from Russia and Ukraine (the IT sector), followed by China, Turkey, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Cuba, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), and there are increasingly more from African countries as well.
Foreign workers come to Serbia, but, according to those focused on this topic, they also leave; that is, most do not stay, but return to their home countries or go on to more developed European countries than Serbia. They also emphasize that the arrival of foreign workers in no way endangers domestic workers, and when it comes to wages, there is mostly no difference in pay, which in any case does not depend on where a worker comes from.
9.5 times more foreigners than 10 years ago
Foreign workers come to Serbia mainly through agencies. One agency worker says that the position of foreign workers depends on many factors, primarily on the type of contract they have signed.
“These are fixed-term contracts, for two to three years. They mostly do not stay in Serbia, but move on or return to their home countries,” says this agency worker. “Hiring a foreign worker costs employers about the same as employing domestic labor. However, most contracts include providing accommodation and meals for foreign workers.”
He points out that employers in Serbia lack workers, primarily in construction and manufacturing, and that their wages correspond to those jobs and the level of expertise. According to him, more often than domestic workers, those from abroad are willing to work overtime and on weekends, which is paid additionally.
According to Goran Milic, president of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Vojvodina, foreign workers in Serbia mostly earn around the minimum wage, and are most often employed in construction, transport, hospitality, and agriculture, and recently increasingly in manufacturing as well.
The honorary president of the Union of Employers of Serbia, Nebojsa Atanackovic, points out that without foreign workers, many companies would not be able to operate, that most foreign workers earn more than the minimum wage, and that they work weekends more often than domestic workers.
“It cannot be said that employing a foreign worker is more favorable for employers compared to domestic staff,” says Atanackovic. “They generally do not work for the minimum wage, and accommodation often has to be provided for them, and sometimes partial meals as well. However, people who come from other countries are willing to work on weekends, which means more money, because many of them want to earn as much as possible and send money to their families.”
Application for a single permit
An application for a single permit (work and residence) may be submitted by a foreign national or by an employer on behalf of a foreign national, exclusively electronically via the Foreigners’ Portal. After that, the National Employment Service conducts a labor market test to determine whether there are registered candidates from Serbia in the database who are qualified for the position for which the employer plans to hire a foreign worker. If there are none, the Ministry of the Internal Affairs, which is also networked on the Foreigners’ Portal, issues a single work and residence permit, valid for up to three years.
