While Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) is facing a shortage of workers, more and more citizens are choosing to work abroad. The countries where citizens of BiH most often go are Croatia, Montenegro, Germany, Italy, and Slovenia.
Many of them have an easier procedure for issuing work permits for other nationals.
As the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Croatia said, in 2022 they issued a total of 124.121 permits for residence and work in that country.
“Out of this, the largest number of permits was issued to citizens of BiH, 36.783. Then followed by citizens of Serbia with 19.176 permits and Nepal with 19.176 permits,” they stated.
10.053 permits were issued to citizens of North Macedonia, and 8.979 to Kosovo.
From the beginning of this year until March 31st, BiH citizens submitted 13.254 applications for residence and work, and 9.772 permits were issued.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Croatia added that the largest number of work permits were issued for the field of construction, where masons and carpenters are most in demand, followed by the field of tourism and catering. When it comes to catering, waiters, cooks, and valets are wanted, and a large number of applications for work in these jobs come from BiH.
In addition, many applications for work in Croatia are submitted by drivers, who are also in demand.
At the same time, BiH is experiencing a major problem with the lack of these workers, and employers are increasingly worried, considering that the season is approaching when workers in the mentioned activities are badly needed, Klix.ba reports.