November 15, 2022 - It has become common to see foreign workers from third countries performing various jobs in tourism and hospitality, as well as on construction sites in Croatia's summer and winter seasons. Recently, more and more Nepalese, Indians, Filipino, and workers from many other countries can be seen in more and more jobs in Rijeka, especially in delivery jobs.

As written by Novi List and Poslovni, according to data from the Primorsko-Goranska Police Administration, 13,116 requests for residence and work permits were received in nine months of 2022, while a total of 7,617 submissions were received in the same period last year. Only in ​​the city of Rijeka and the Rijeka ring, 4,355 requests were received, while their number last year was 2,732.

A better life in Croatia

One of the foreign workers in Rijeka is the Nepalese Dhirendreom Tamanga who, like many of his compatriots, came to find what they call a better life, but also a better income because he sends a large part of his earnings to his family. "It's better for me to work in Croatia than at home, and with the money I earn here, my family in Nepal can live happily and comfortably," says Dhirendra. He explained that he lives in Rijeka with a group of workers who also arrived from Nepal, and their rent in the city center is paid by the delivery company they work for.

Significantly more permits for foreign workers this year

Marin Šušnjar, director of the Wolt platform in Croatia, confirmed the trend of foreign workers in delivery jobs. According to him, the partners who employ delivery drivers noticed that they could not secure a sufficient number of people only through the applications of Croatian citizens. They decided to expand the base of potential employees and turn to the import and employment of foreign citizens. "The countries with which our partner companies cooperate the most are India, Nepal, and the Philippines, but also North Macedonia, Albania, and other countries closer to us. However, the current percentage of foreign nationals working on the Wolt platform in Rijeka as delivery partners is less than 5 percent of the total number of delivery drivers," said Šušnjar.

Differences in mode of operation

Desanka Babić from the Star employment mediation agency explained the process of hiring foreign workers. Croatian agencies for mediation in employment enter into contracts with local and foreign agencies that, based on their requirements, search for a qualified workforce. Upon arrival, the foreign worker pays only for the plane ticket, while the agencies who bring in the workers, if both parties are satisfied, charge the employer a monthly fee. In this way, says Babić, they worked with GP Krk and many other companies.

"The only and biggest problem will be bringing in a quality workforce trained and familiar with our labour market. Workers who come from India, Pakistan, and Nepal, apart from experiencing culture shock, are not familiar with our way of working and working conditions. At the same time, it cannot be said that they do not know how to work, but they have experience with different work principles, and several months should be found for them to learn and get used to it. Therefore, we have posted relevant information on working conditions on our website and what we are trying to achieve. I think the Government of the Republic of Croatia should also come up with a way to train foreign workers before they start working and arrive in our country. This would reduce the gap according to what foreign workers think is expected of them, and employers would be provided with a quality workforce", concludes Desanka Babić.

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As Novac/Barbara Ban writes on the 20th of June, 2019, the Union of Istria, Kvarner and Dalmatia recently spoke in Pula in a rather critical manner about the Croatian Government's plans for the further increase in the quota for the import of foreign workforce for Croatian tourism, despite the fact that they are very much aware that there huge gaps in the Croatian labour market, especially in regard to seasonal workers.

The president of the aforementioned union, Marina Cvitić, believes that the Croatian Government should first aim to stop the mass departure of Croatian workers who are taking advantage of the EU's fundamental four freedoms (one of which is the free movement of labour/people), and heading abroad. They also believe that the government should take the appropriate measures to ensure that those who do return, return to much more favourable business opportunities and higher wages. Otherwise, at least according to that union, the whole sense of Croatian tourism is entirely lost.

It is extremely alarming that 500,000 active and able workers have now left the Republic of Croatia. This trend is continuing, with EU membership making it all so much easier, and the Croatian Government is doing very little to at least try stop the displacement of Croatian citizens, most of whom are of working age.

At the same time, Croatia turns to a greater increase in the import of foreign workers, and by foreign we're typically referring to non EU nationals, such as those from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia, or even those from outside of the European continent, such as those from Pakistan, who would need to see a ''stay and work'' permit in order to gain employment, hence the raising of the quota.

''The owners of Croatian tourist companies, but not solely tourist companies, because we sold everything we did not destroy, are often foreigners, their employees are foreigners, their profits go off to foreign countries, the salaries go to foreign countries, the laws and regulations are placed upon Croatia by the European Union... The question now is whether or not we even need a country if we have less and less Croatian citizens; huge amounts of money is leaving Croatia, and normative acts are being introduced by the EU? For what?'' Cvitić asks.

He warned that the foreign labour force who came to work this summer in the field of Croatian tourism is not of the best quality and that Croatian workers are often angry because they feel that these imported workers have better conditions offered to them.

''Croatian workers are usually required to pay for their warm dinners, while those who are accommodated on the employer's premises get it free of charge, this includes three meals, accommodation, transport and return allowance, recreation... As a rule, they first hire them and then they work until the end of the season, that gives them higher wages. And so it's not surprising that incidents are occuring, nor is it surprising to see this situation heating up more and more, and it's just a matter of time before it explodes.

While most local people have a high degree of tolerance towards Croatian workers, this threshold is much lower for foreign workers. And if it so happens, and it happens very often, that this involves [foreign] workers who don't want to, or know how to work, but see all this as a possibility of enjoying a free summer holiday on the Adriatic, then there's no wonder why the [Croatian] workers' are unhappy,'' stated the head of this union.

He thinks the solution is to reduce VAT in Croatian tourism by ten percent. That will, he believes, create the necessary conditions for the introduction of higher wages, which could once again attract more Croatian workers to return to work in Croatian tourism.

''For this situation that really is alarming, both employers and the Government of the Republic of Croatia are equally in the wrong.

I therefore suggest that the Minister of Tourism, or the Government of the Republic of Croatia, go ahead and accept the challenge offered by employers. Namely, the president of the Croatian Association of Tourism, Veljko Ostojić, suggested lowering the VAT on tourism to ten percent, and employers will then increase their workers' salaries by thirty percent in a one-time increase and then raise them continuously between five and seven percent over the next three to five years. If that's the truth, such measures would certainly contribute to halting the emigration of Croatian workers, but also increase spending which would then fill the budget, which would ultimately not be a loss,'' added Cvitić.

Otherwise, the average salaries in Croatian tourism last year amounted to 5,175 kuna net per month, for the first three months, they stoof at 5,253, and they're still 18 percent lower than the Croatian average. Cvitić says that this year, large hotel companies have raised their workers' salaries, but that's still nowhere near enough.

''When we look at the department of food and service, then the average is even lower, ie, it was 4,175 kuna last year, and for the first three months of this year it was 4,254 kuna, which is 34 percent below the Croatian average,'' noted Cvitić.

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