January the 4th, 2023 - The Croatian Employment Service (HZZ/CES) has come up with a new tool aimed at the long-term unemployed, and 2023 is greeting that group with a new approach entirely - Posao+/Job+.

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Marija Brnic writes, we're more than aware by now of the utterly chronic lack of workers on the domestic labour market, and groups of those registered within the Croatian Employment Service have become entangled in long-term unemployment. Various programmes have been trying to activate and include this category in the labour market for a long time, and for 2023 a completely new approach has been designed.

Namely, the new Croatian Employment Service's programme "Job+" is being introduced, which integrates the use of several existing measures to encourage employment, and was adopted by the Administrative Council of the CES at the last session before Christmas last year, at which the measures of the active employment policy for 2023 were also adopted.

In designing this programme, the Croatian Employment Service was guided by the fact that the Croatian labour market has undergone a dramatic transformation over the past 20 years, and that people who were once declared as more difficult to employ now have a much greater opportunity to find and remain in work, because supply and demand relations, as well as the general conditions for workers have evolved significantly.

However, for some of the unemployed, inclusion is a problem, even with employment measures intended for more vulnerable groups, partly because employers failed to recognise them as motivated potential workers, and partly because some were not ready for education for a new occupation and raising their competencies, something financed by the Croatian Employment Service.

Care for this category of unemployed people is also provided for in the NPOO, which, through the improvement of the Croatian Employment Service, envisages the introduction of a new procedure for identifying more vulnerable groups and referring them to different sorts of measures for employment. The approach to each of the unemployed will be individual, and ror everyone who becomes a candidate for "Job+", a special plan tailored to their specific needs and capabilities, and an employment counsellor will monitor the implementation of the measure and be in contact with both the would-be worker and the would-be employer.

The new programme envisages synergy between the CES and the Institute for Social Welfare, as well as with employers who will engage workers and institutions where education will be conducted. In preparing the programme, the CES conducted an analysis of data on newly registered persons from the past three years, more precisely from 2019 to 2021, and the dynamics of their employment.

In that aforementioned period, 592,274 people were registered with the Croatian Employment Service, of whom 95.1% left, mostly because they managed to gain employment (72%), and 4.9% or 28,756 are still registered. The data also shows that more than half of those who apply get a job within six months, while 16% of those newly registered enter long-term unemployment, longer than one year, and 7% into extremely long-term unemployment, longer than two years.

The data also shows that among those who have been registered for more than two years, they are mostly over 50 years old and have completed primary or secondary school. Part of the long-term unemployed could return to the labour market, and a change in attitudes is expected to be achieved by combining several active employment policy measures depending on the needs of each unemployed person.

"Job+" aims to include the unemployed who are beneficiaries of the guaranteed minimum compensation, without high school education and the long-term unemployed, who will receive the aid of an employment counsellor, and for those from the guaranteed minimum compensation group, social mentoring, and the combination of measures would last up to 36 months.

How much per individual measure?

For one individual, the current plan is to use up to three measures from the active employment policy programme, which would achieve activation in the job search, the acquisition of work skills with employers involved in public work measures or employment support, and raising qualifications in educational institutions and workplaces alongside employers.

The amount of the cost will depend on the value of the measures that are combined and used, and in this case, three of the nine measures from the package for which the Croatian Employment Service planned a total of 120.9 million euros in incentives are available. In particular, we're talking about the Support for employment, Public work and Training at the workplace measures, but it isn't yet known how much the CES will distribute per individual measure.

For more, check out our news section.

July the 13th, 2022 - The Croatian unemployment rate is at its lowest since the Croatian Employment Service (HZZ/CES) has been keeping official records. This might sound incredible, but this is a typical trend in the late spring and early summer months owing to seasonal employment for the tourism sector, as well as the ongoing demographic crisis.

The number of working age people leaving the country is continuing to increase, and the number of retirees or those who no longer need to work living in Croatia is on the up. Demography continues to dog the country's labour force, as do very seasonal trends in the Croatian unemployment rate.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the sixth month of this year was marked the lowest number of registered unemployed persons on the Croatian labour market since the Croatian Employment Service has been keeping official track of this data. The month of June's statistics show that 105,798 unemployed people were registered in that month alone, which is 20.4 thousand less than at the end of the same month last year.

June 2022 was the fifth month in a row in which the Croatian unemployment rate continued to fall on a monthly basis - compared to May, there were 4,040 or 3.7 percent fewer of them registered at the aforementioned institute. Currently, 107,444 unemployed persosn are registered at the institute, 1,646 more than there were back at the end of June. There are currently 17,619 job vacancies published by the CES.

During that month, 12,461 people were newly registered in the unemployment register, which is an increase of 1.3 percent compared to June last year. At the same time, 76.3 percent of newly registered persons or 9,506 persons came to the institute directly from their previous employment.

16,501 people left the unemployment register in June, which is 31.5 percent less than in June last year. Of these, 12,720 persons were employed, namely 11,720 persons (92.1 percent) on the basis of employment and 1,000 persons (7.9 percent) on the basis of other business activities.

For more on the Croatian unemployment rate, working in Croatia and seasonal trends, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 11 May 2022 - At the end of April, 118,922 job-seekers were registered with the Croatian Employment Service (HZZ), a drop of 5.3% on the month and of 20% on the year.

April was the third consecutive month to see a monthly decline in the number of job-seekers, and compared to March, there were 6,682 fewer jobless persons.

Daily HZZ data show that due to the influence of seasonal trends and the needs of the tourism sector, the decline in the number of job-seekers will continue into May as well.

Currently, there are 114,163 job-seekers, 4,759 fewer than at the end of April. The HZZ currently offers 23,024 vacancies.

Year-on-year, the number of registered job-seekers is down by 29,822.

In April, 21,994 persons or 18.5% of the unemployed used unemployment benefits. The number of beneficiaries was down from April 2021 by 16.4%, with 4,315 fewer persons using unemployment benefits.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

February the 18th, 2022 - Those job seekers who aren't registered with the Croatian Employment Service and don't use the service to look for work could end up without any health insurance, it has emerged.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, all unemployed persons who have failed to register themselves with the Croatian Employment Service (CES) could be left without their right to health insurance. Namely, the Croatian Health Insurance Institute (HZZO), as part of their ongoing process of ''cleaning up'' their register, is preparing legal amendments which, twenty years after their initial abolition, will return the provision according to which an unemployed person acquires health insurance only if he is registered with the Croatian Employment Service.

This means that, according to some rough calculations, in the coming period, another 100,000 people could apply to the Croatian Employment Service. This would also regard all kinds of currently unemployed people who are not looking for a job through the service at all, because otherwise they could easily be left without healthcare coverage.

The number of unemployed Croatian residents registered at the Croatian Employment Service would double in such a case: according to the CES, there were a total of 129,459 people registered as unemployed with them on Wednesday, as was reported by Jutarnji list.

The Croatian Health Insurance Fund (HZZO) has already signed an agreement on the establishment of a proper IT connection with the service so that it can automatically control who is and who is not registered, and it has similar agreements with both the Ministry of the Interior (MUP) and the Tax Administration.

The purpose of the move is to ''clean up'' the register of insured persons of about 300,000 people, as many as are estimated not to be entitled to Croatian health care, yet are likely still accessing it.

For more, make sure to check out our dedicated lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, 20 Aug, 2021 - In July 2021, there were 1.59 million persons in employment in Croatia, which is 1.5% more than in June 2021 and 2.3% more than in July 2020, while the registered unemployment rate this July slightly went down, the national statistical office (DZS) reported on Friday.

According to the DZS, the number of jobless people in January-July 2021 dropped by 0.2% on the year.

The number of the jobless registered with the Croatian Employment Service at the end of July 2021 was 126,006, down 0.2% on the month and 16.8% on the year, with the registered unemployment rate set at 7.4%.

A total of 1.35 million people were employed in legal entities, which is 1.3% more month on month and an increase of 2% on the year.

For more on lifestyle, follow TCN's dedicated page.

For more about Croatia, CLICK HERE.

ZAGREB, December 4, 2020 - Labour and Pension System Minister Josip Aladrovic said on Friday that HRK 7.6 billion from the state budget had been disbursed so far for job retention grants and shortened working hours, and the amount could climb to HRK 8 billion until the end of this year.

Aladrovic told reporters that the government had already outlined three measures to bail out the economy.

They are job retention grants of HRK 2,000 to 4,000 as a monthly allowance for workers which means that if an employer is shut down for more than 14 days they receive HRK 4,000 for each employee. In this case, employers are also exempt from paying contributions, which amount to about HRK 470 million. The Croatian Employment Service (HZZ) updated that measure today, he added.

The second measure relates to covering a portion of all fixed costs during lockdown and that measure could amount to about HRK 250 million. A fall in turnover of more than 60% in regard to the comparable period last year (Dec 2020 to Dec 2019) makes businesses eligible for that measure. The Tax Administration will soon hammer out the criteria for this measure.

The third measure is a new package of COVID loans through the Hamag-Bicro agency amounting to HRK 1.3 billion.

This encompasses all branches that the government considers will be most exposed due to the anti-Covid epidemiological restrictions that are in force until December 21, said Aladrovic.

"We will monitor the epidemiological measures, evaluate their effect and accordingly upgrade economic measures, if necessary, in an effort to keep jobs and business activities," he added.

He underlined that negotiations with employer associations provided a series of proposals and one of them was to include micro enterprises that depend on all those who have been shut down.

"We have included them in the measures, however they have to prove a fall in revenue and that they have business connections with those sectors that are in lockdown," Aladrovic explained and added that they will be eligible for the job retention measure.

Compensation of fixed costs only applies to those who are in lockdown until December 21, he underlined.

According to Aladrovic there are three various sources to finance the jobkeeping measures, the state budget, the EU Sure programme which has provided a loan for Croatia of just over one billion euro and EU funds, or one part of the resilience programme which will provide €530 million.

He added that in the earlier phase, between March and May, Croatia absorbed HRK 1.3 billion in funds from the European Social Fund and that it plans to absorb another portion of that fund for the jobkeeping measures.

The total effect on the budget regardless of all these sources of funding at the moment is HRK 7.6 billion, which is how much has been spent on support and by the end of the year that amount could be HRK 8 billion. About 60% of that will come from the state budget and 40% from EU funds, he explained.

(€1 = HRK 7.545450

ZAGREB, September 18, 2020 - At the end of August 2020, there were 1.53 million persons in employment in Croatia, up 0.4% on the month but down 4% on the year, while the registered unemployment rate stayed at 9%, the national statistical office said on Friday.

In August 2020, the number of persons in employment was 1,534,912. Their number in legal entities was 1,315,534, up 0.5% on the month but down 3.9% on the year.

At the end of August 2020, there were 200,202 persons in employment in crafts and trades and freelancing, down 0.2% on the month and 4.9% on the year.

Registered unemployment 9%

At the end of August 2020, 151,368 persons were registered with the Croatian Employment Service, 65 fewer on the month. Year on year, their number jumped 32.2%.

The unemployment rate was 9% in both July and August. In August, it went up 2.2 percentage points on the year.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

ZAGREB, September 8, 2020 - The Croatian Employment Service (HZZ) has stated that businesses hit hard by the corona crisis can apply for job-keeping grants for September in the period from 15 September to 15 October.

The job retention scheme will be in place until the end of this year, according to a press release issued after the HZZ steering board's meeting on Monday afternoon.

As for businesses that are particularly at risk, support in the amount of HRK 4,000 per employee per month will continue until December 31.

This refers to the transport of passengers, hospitality, travel agencies and recreation-related businesses, as well as cultural, business and sports events, if their drop in revenues exceeds 60%.

The aid in the amount of HRK 4,000 per employee will also be given to businesses and activities which will have to be closed down in line with decisions by local or national COVID-19 response teams, according to the announcement made by Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic last week.

Micro businesses that employ up to 10 workers and have a revenue drop for a claim period of at least 50% are entitled to the monthly job retention grant of 2,000 kuna per worker.

This scheme and similar measures for furloughed workers will cost by the end of the year around HRK 800 million and will be financed from the state budget, but some of the funding will be obtained from EU funds, both from the current financial perspective and from future loans to be granted under the SURE programme, as well as from future programmes such as the Recovery and Resilience Facility.

Plenkovic also announced that COVID-19 loans would continue to be issued through the HAMAG-BICRO agency and the Croatian Reconstruction and Development Bank.

(€ 1 = HRK 7.5)

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

Read the Croatian Travel Update in your language - now available in 24 languages

Join the Total Croatia Travel INFO Viber community.

The coronavirus pandemic has caused not only a global health crisis but a continually unfolding economic one. Croatia, despite its excellent and stringent anti-epidemic measures, hasn't managed to avoid the tremendous and sudden negative economic impact the virus has had. Owing to that, the Croatian Government came forward with economic measures to help stop the domestic economy from sinking, and Croatian employers have been entitled to numerous benefits owing to its introduction.

Just which Croatian employers have received grants from the government, and how much exactly have they been provided with? The issue of transparency is a hot one in Croatia, and the desire for everyone to be able to see exactly where the state grants are going has been a subject of much discussion.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 29th of April, 2020, a total of 1.5 billion kuna in support was received by almost 84,000 Croatian employers for nearly 485,000 workers, Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic stated on Wednesday.

''The government has responded quickly and generously to Croatian employers to make sure they have access to minimum wage funds. That measure was quickly introduced. Within ten days of receiving a request [for the grant by a Croatian employer], that request was realised and everything was done completely transparently. I'd like to reiterate the fact that almost 84 thousand companies received grants for almost 485 thousand workers for the first round of support of 1 billion and 550 million kuna.

The Croatian Employment Service (CES) and the Tax Administration will ensure that no abuse of the measure occurs, and the Ministry, in cooperation with the CES, will definitely act swiftly and efficiently for April, too, with the amount for April being 4,000 kuna,'' said Plenkovic.

The largest number of grants - 77,057 of them, were paid for workers employed by micro-employers which have up to 10 employees. For employees working for small businesses, 5,876 grants were paid out, for medium-sized companies (boasting 51 to 250 employees) 889 grants were paid, and for large companies (with more than 250 employees) 147 grants were paid.

The largest share of government aid seekers lies among micro-entrepreneurs - making up 92 percent. Small businesses make up seven percent, medium-sized companies make up one percent, and large companies make up 0.03 percent.

You can find out more about the grants Croatian employers have received, and futher support, by clicking on the links provided below:

March 2020 - User list

March 2020 - Statistics

For more on coronavirus in Croatia, visit our dedicated section.