As Poslovni Dnevnik/Denis Matijevic writes on the 2nd of April, 2020, countries like Austria, Germany and France have already launched websites where unemployed people who are not affected by the coronavirus pandemic can apply to work in the agriculture sector.

A large number of European Union countries facing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic are calling for agricultural ''patriotism'' and are warning that agriculture and food production should not stop at this point. The biggest challenge for them is the lack of manpower, which will come to the forefront in an even stronger way once the harvest season begins.

Food supplies around the world are facing increasing obstacles, including export restrictions, and large producers naturally want to secure their citizens' supply. Numerous countries have reiterated the need for self-sufficiency in food production, and there is a concern that some governments may restrict the flow of basic food products to secure domestic supply in the face of supply chain disruptions.

One of the problems that is particularly striking is that in most EU countries, OPG owners are senior citizens, who are particularly affected by the coronavirus pandemic. According to some figures, as many as 59.7 per cent of OPG owners in the EU are over 65 years of age.

For this reason, numerous governments are trying to find ways to engage those who can work in agriculture, with a focus on those who have already lost their jobs (such as hospitality workers), to help with agriculture work in combination with volunteering and securing an income.

Some countries believe that one of the financial measures could be one that would ensure that part of the financial support for the unemployed could be diverted to farmers, so that volunteers could earn a decent income.

They're calling on hospitality workers who have lost their jobs, such as waiters and cooks.

Austria currently lacks 5,000 workers for their harvest, and as spring approaches, more and more people are going to be needed. Their meat processing industry isn't in a better position either, as they lack as many as 9000 workers. For this reason, the Austrian Government is urging citizens who are currently free and have no work obligations, to apply and support the agriculture sector. To facilitate this, the government has launched a website through which interested parties can apply.

The appeal was addressed primarily to hospitality and gastronomy employees who are not currently employed, but is also extends to students.

Over recent years, many workers from other EU countries or third countries have been arriving in Germany to undertake seasonal work in agriculture, such as picking asparagus and strawberries, and the coronavirus crisis has caused the countries many difficulties in terms of their labour supply.

About 286,000 seasonal workers work in German fields each year, with most of them coming from other countries. Currently, the most affected people in this field in Germany are fruit and vegetable growers who totally rely on foreign seasonal workers.

The French Government has also called on employees who are currently laid off or aren't working due to the coronavirus pandemic, to make themselves available to help farmers with seasonal work. Leaders of the FNSEA, France's main agricultural union, warn that they currently lack around 200,000 people in agriculture.

The FNSEA has also launched a website where residents of France can register to make themselves available to farmers who need workers.

To encourage people to register, those who volunteer will be able to combine their partial unemployment benefits with their wages earned by engaging in seasonal work in agriculture, which are roughly equivalent to the minimum wage.

The possible decline in production across Europe, the difficulty in supplying and the closure of some countries for export could leave the global market without some types of products and food. Croatia, as a major food importer, could be primarily affected by the supply of pork, milk, vegetables and fruit.

Therefore, it is now an opportunity to seriously start thinking about turning things around rather dramatically in terms of Croatian agriculture. At this point, it is necessary to take immediate steps to adopt crisis and rapid measures that will ensure a secure supply and remove obstacles to food production.

Once the coronavirus crisis is over, it will be necessary to make a shift and change the business model for agriculture, raising production and self-sufficiency, and being aware that agriculture and food production is one of the most important strategic branches of the entire economy.

Make sure to follow our dedicated section for rolling information and updates on coronavirus in Croatia.

One often hears stories from Croatia about employers not paying their staff properly, on time, and sometimes not at all. More often than not, this leaves a bitter taste in the mouths of readers and the common assumption that nothing is ever done about the situation and that these rogue employers never face justice. This time, a waitress who had been hard done by her employer in a Karlovac cafe, made sure punishment happened.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 9th of March, 2020, the waitress asked her employer in a Karlovac cafe for payment several times, but he never actually paid her. He did enter her onto the company's payroll, but only after she reported him to the competent authorities and their menacing inspectors.

The owner of the aforementioned Karlovac cafe did not pay his waitress for fifteen days, more specifically from the 16th of August to the 31st of August 2017, a mere 1,600 kuna gross sum.

The Misdemeanor Court in Karlovac therefore fined him a massive 68,000 kuna, of which 61,000 kuna needed to be paid from his company and 7,000 kuna out of his pocket personally as the person responsible for the ridiculous situation.

He was found guilty and he had not handed over his employee's salary within the legal deadline, which was no later than September the 30th, 2017, according to KA portal.

The defendant didn't appear in court and the waitress was questioned. She said everything was fine until the last day in August, when the boss came over for a drink with some of his friends and ordered a round for everyone. He told the waitress to charge it to him, which is what she did.

After that, she says, he did the same for the next round of drinks. But when it came to billing, he said that the second round was being paid by his friends and not him, and accused her of wanting to defraud him for that amount.

It hurt her a lot, she left him the keys to the Karlovac cafe, took her belongings and left. However, she didn't pick up her salary she had earned for half that month, or half of the agreed 3,200 kuna gross. She asked him for payment several times, but as mentioned, he never paid her and only put her details into the company's payroll upon having been reported to the inspectors.

The huge fine, which is much larger than what the owner of the Karlovac cafe should have simply paid his former waitress should act as a stark warning to all other Croatian employers wanting to get out of paying their deserving staff properly and fairly.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for more.

The words ''employment in Vukovar'' aren't commonly said or heard. Vukovar, as well as the entire eastern region of Croatia is known more for its workers abandoning it in favour of Germany and Ireland than its workers generating their income there. Vukovar, once ravaged by war, isn't a place that draws much attention from would-be investors or business owners. Is all of that about to finally alter?

As Darko Bicak/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 1st of March, 2020, interest in Vukovar has been expressed by a Zagreb-based company which employs 650 people in Croatia, Germany and across the Atlantic in the United States. Just when the factory in Vukovar is due to begin work is unknown so far, but the plans for employment in Vukovar look promising.

Although speculation about the arrival of a company from the aviation industry sector to Vukovar has been rife for some time now, official confirmation of what will likely be a much needed spring in Vukovar's step arrived this week. Namely, Vukovar Mayor Ivan Penava visited the headquarters of Enikon Aerospace in Zagreb, which manufactures plastic parts for aircraft interiors.

Penava announced on the occasion that the employment of fifty people in Vukovar is expected in April, and that, ultimately, 200 workers will be employed by Boeing and Airbus in Croatia's beloved Hero City on the Danube.

It is not yet known exactly when production could begin in Vukovar, as fifty of the first workers will be sent to training after signing their contracts, which will last, as Penava points out, between six and twelve months.

''The arrival of Enikon Aerospace in Vukovar, in addition to the fact that it brings with it the creation of 200 new jobs, also sends us a clear message that new opportunities are being created in terms of acquiring and improving knowledge and skills in the field of this technologically advanced industry, which did not exist here until now. Considering the fact that the needs of Enikon regarding the profile of workers and their qualifications are really diverse, I believe that in this area, we'll find the necessary workforce, which will be trained and improved for all further needs of the company,'' Penava said.

Enikon points out that at first they plan to produce 100 parts per day here, and as many as 1500 later on in the year, meaning increased employment in Vukovar.

''We came to Vukovar exclusively for business reasons. The airline industry is specific and relatively small, and quality and precision are the primary things to take into consideration. Certainly, a commitment is necessary, and there are all these virtues in Croatia,'' said Enikon's Vice President Jakov Baricic.

It's worth recalling that last year, the Austrian FACC bought land in Jakovlje near Zagreb, where it plans to invest thirty million euros in its aircraft parts factory. In the first phase, they plan to hire 600 people, and ultimately it could result in the creation of several thousand new jobs.

Make sure to follow our dedicated business page for much more.

The level of unemployment in Croatia is falling to record lows, which might sound like a bit of good news for the domestic economy for once, but it isn't. The reason for the drop in unemployment in Croatia is the country's increasing need to rely on retirees: from shop assistants to doctors in surgeries.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 24th of February, 2020, with 345,000 registered unemployed people back at the end of 2013, the unemployment rate in Croatia dropped to just 128,000 at the end of 2019, writes Dalibor Dobric for DW.

While on the surface this may seem like a huge improvement, it's actually a complete and utter disaster. Back in 2017, much was written about how Croatia should be afraid of a falling unemployment rate because it is being caused by mass emigration. In three years, the situation has worsened. Although the Croatian economy has been recovering and growing since 2015, the number of employees has increased from an average of 1,391 million in 2015 to just 1,518 million in January 2020, as was recently published by the Central Bureau of Statistics. That's a mere 127,000 more employed people. The fall in the rate of unemployment in Croatia is thus much greater than the increase in the number of employed or retired people, which means that the labour market is emptying, and fast.

Even though emigration from Croatia has slowed somewhat, there are still tens of thousands of people leaving per year. Immigration and seasonal foreign labour cannot make up for that. According to official data from the CBS, 39,515 inhabitants emigrated from Croatia in 2018, which is less than in 2017 when 47,352 emigrated according to official statistics, says Dr. Sc. Iva Tomic from the Zagreb Institute of Economics. However, what needs to be emphasised is that this wave of emigration is dominated by younger age groups, that is, almost half of Croatian emigrants are between the ages of 20 and 40, while one fifth is under the age of 20.

A third of those of working age aren't even looking for work

The rate of working population is also decreasing. According to Eurostat, as stated by Dr. Sc. Iva Tomic, in the third quarter of 2019, the ''activity rate'' for the age group 20-64 was only 71.4 percent.

In other words, "this means that in the age group between 20 and 64, almost 30 percent of people were economically inactive, and that they neither worked nor sought work," says Dr. Tomic.

On the other hand, Eurostat also stated that "Croatia, Bulgaria and Latvia are most dependent on international remittances among EU member states", emphasising that the share of transfers, ie, the money that emigrants send to relatives back home in Croatia, makes up a far larger part of Croatia's GDP than Bulgaria and Latvia (6.3 percent versus 3.6 percent). Dr. Tomic points out that Croatia even saw a surplus due to remittances from abroad.

''Compared to 730 million euros in annual inflows of private transfers from abroad in 2009, their amount in 2015 more than doubled to 1.545 million euros. In 2017, the amount increased slightly to 1,668 million euros annually, and in 2018 to 1,743 million euros. As relatively young working-age people tend to leave Croatia, macroeconomically speaking, this is a significant loss of human capital for the current and future decades,'' says Marijana Ivanov PhD from the Faculty of Economics and Business in Zagreb.

No investments or technological innovation…

''People living abroad send money to family members in Croatia, which has positive effects on current GDP through spending growth, or on the financing of the state budget through VAT revenues. However, in both cases the contribution would be much higher if their total income were acquired in Croatia through work for an employer or owing to independent business activities. The adverse effects of emigration are reflected in the financing of the health system and the first pillar from which pensions are paid to existing retirees. It's common knowledge that part of the people who have left, either directly or indirectly (through family members), continue to use the services of the Croatian health care system, and they either participate in the financing of the health system either slightly or not at all,'' warned Dr. Ivanov.

She also pointed out that the increasing labour shortage in many industries is limiting the use of existing production and service capacities, which demotivates and creates an unfavourable environment for new investments, including the necessary technological innovations to increase the productivity of the overall economy.

There is a downside to salary increases...

Her colleague from the Faculty of Economics, mag. Sc. Kresimir Ivanda, who said in an earlier interview with DW that while reducing the number of workers means a rise in wages in some sectors, this increase has its downside because it reduces competitiveness.

"A rise in wages in agriculture, for tangerine and berry pickers and the like would have a negative impact on already poorly competitive domestic agriculture, which is struggling to cope with the low prices of foreign products."

In addition, he noted the lower unemployment in Croatia and that the fight to retain workers by raising wages is only possible for those companies that do good or excellent business. "Such companies are mostly located in the more developed parts of Croatia, which would mean that those parts of the country from which most people leave will also not experience a higher wage increase. This means an even greater difference in the development of regions within Croatia,'' Ivanda said.

Croatia is the land of the retired...

''In going abroad, many people have, from a personal perspective, increased the value of their own human capital as measured by the amount of current and future income. From this point of view, and assuming that some people will sooner or later return to their homes and receive foreign pensions, Croatia's long-term socio-economic picture can be improved in part because foreign pensions will provide many with a higher standard of living than most working today in Croatia,'' says Dr. Ivanov.

"It's also not an impossible long-term scenario in which Croatia becomes an attractive location for retirees of Croatian origin from Germany, Ireland or from other EU member states. However, from today's perspective, it would be far better if Croatia were an economically attractive location for the employment of young people and the settlement of young families from other EU member states and also from other European countries outside the EU,'' he said.

For more on unemployment in Croatia. follow our lifestyle page.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 10th of February, 2020, the measures for Croatian self-employment support are experiencing a real boom with more and more people making use of them, according to Martina Gelencir for srednja.hr.

In the last three years, as many as 18,791 beneficiaries have been included in this active employment policy measure. The new year also brought with it some news related to Croatian self-employment support - a larger amount of funds that beneficiaries can receive in less developed areas of Croatia.

Croatian self-employment grants are state aid granted to unemployed persons who decide to start their own business and are registered with the CES. As of 2020, some good news awaits users.

Greater subsidies for those living in underdeveloped areas

''In 2020, greater financial support is being provided for persons wanting to become self employed in less developed areas, thereby affecting the economic development and demographic picture of those areas. Specifically, the amount of Croatian self-employment support is determined by the area in which the person resides and opens a business entity,''

The condition is that for at least 12 months before applying for Croatian self-employment funding, the person must have resided in the area, except in the cases of Index VII and VIII where the above condition doesn't apply. According to the Decision on the classification of local and regional self-government units, and according to the level of development, Croatian self-employment grants are divided into three groups, namely: the first group for municipalities and cities from I to IV; second group V to VI; third group VII to VIII, as was explained from the Croatian Employment Service.

Thus, beneficiaries living in the least developed areas (Grades I to IV) will receive a subsidy of up to 100,000 kuna, or 110,000 kuna if on-the-job training is combined. Beneficiaries in other groups with grades V through VI can receive a subsidy of 85,000 kuna, or up to 95,000 if combined with on-the-job training. The latter, which are the third group of people who live in the most developed areas (Grades VII and VIII), can receive a subsidy of up to 75,000 kuna or up to 85,000 kuna if combined with on-the-job training.

The number of newly enrolled users of Croatian self-employment support is skyrocketing

The main target group for the use of the measure of Croatian self-employment support are unemployed persons registered with the CES, who have carried out all the activities available in the competent regional office (individual counselling, self-employment workshops) in cooperation with the self-employment counsellor in accordance with the dynamics of developing their entrepreneurial idea.

The second target group is Croatian returnees from EU countries with regulated residence, and the condition that a person must have been resident in the area for at least 12 months does not apply in this case.

It is a measure that, according to the CES, is being used by more and more people. Back in 2017, there were 3,583 newcomers to the measure, with 8,723 new users last year. In 2017, a total of 5,824 people benefited from the Croatian self-employment support measures, which is up from 15,069 last year.

According to what the CES has said to srednja.hr, in the past few years, Croatian self-employment grants were most often awarded to businesses in the field of specialised construction, personal services, professional, scientific and technical activities, and in computer programming, consulting and other related activities.

Most continue with their work even after the measure expires

In addition to the increase in the number of beneficiaries of the measure, the good news is that the overwhelming majority of beneficiaries who have received support continue to operate after the first year of operation, ie after the measure expires for them.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle and business pages for more.

As Novac/Adriano Milovan writes on the 20th of January, 2020, the average net salary in Croatia in November last year was 40 kuna, or 0.6 percent, higher than it was in October, while compared to November 2018 it increased by 269 kuna or by 4.3 percent, pointing to a stead increase in Croatian salaries, at least according to new data from the state statistics.

According to the aforementioned data, Croatian salaries continued to grow in November last year. Thus, the average gross salary in November amounted to 8877 kuna, which is nominally higher by 0.7 percent when compared to October and 4.9 percent higher than it was back in November 2018.

When wage growth is adjusted for inflation, net wages in Croatia back in November 2019 were 0.7 percent higher in real terms than they were in October, and 3.6 percent higher than they were back in November one year earlier. The same is true of gross wages: their real growth in November was 0.8 percent on a monthly basis and 4.2 percent on a yearly basis, data from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) shows.

The average hourly rate also increased, amounting to 39.13 kuna in November, which is nominally 9.4 percent more than it was back in October and 8.8 percent higher than it was in November 2018. The median wage, which is considered to be a more realistic indicator of wages in the country, was 5600 kuna in November, according to the CBS.

The increase in Croatian salaries is primarily due to the lack of manpower in many industries, which is once again the result of a poor demographic picture and of mass emigration from Croatia to more economically developed EU countries. Wage growth was also influenced by tax reforms, which left some employees with more money in their pockets.

By industry, the highest average salary in November was in air transport: in this sector, according to the CBS data, the average net salary was 11,326 kuna, while in the gross amount the average salary was 16,363 kuna. On the other hand, security guards had the lowest average wage: in November the average net wage in the sector was 4261 kuna, or 5401 kuna in the gross amount.

For more on Croatian salaries, follow our lifestyle page.

As Ljubica Gataric/VL/Poslovni Dnevnik writes on the 18th of November, 2019, about 66,000 workers were hired to start new jobs in Croatia during September, including about 7,400 first-time job seekers. In the second quarter, 29,000 unemployed people found jobs in the Republic of Croatia, but alongside that, 15,000 workers went to sign on at the job centre during the same time period.

In line with the unfortunate seasonal nature of Croatia's economy, the autumn and winter months bring much fewer jobs, as has been clearly evidenced by the number of job seekers officially registered.

The number of unemployed people is around 125,000, and they can choose from 11,000 job vacancies in total. As a rule, the big move towards ''signing on'' at the job centre typically occurs in October, and this year around 83,000 employees remained without employment in September, and this of course sounds tragic, but like every year, it mostly regards those who were working seasonal jobs.

Eurostat has released the results of a new European labour market survey showing that between the first and second quarters of 2019, three million people (one fifth of all unemployed in the first quarter of 2019) found a job. However, during that same period, 8.3 million former employees ended up out of work and a further 3.3 million became otherwise economically inactive.

The survey does not contain data for Germany, but Croatia is included. According to this data, in the second quarter of 2019, 29,000 unemployed people found a job in Croatia, but in that same period, 15,000 workers registered as job seekers. Another 20,000 ex workers became economically inactive.

Compared to 2018 or 2017, the number of unemployed people finding a job in Croatia halved in the second quarter, traditionally the strongest quarter in terms of new employment due to the boom in agriculture, construction and tourism. In 2018, 63,000 unemployed people were employed in Croatia during this period, and about 56,000 were back in 2017.

As job offers aren't declining, obviously working exhausting seasonal jobs is not a solution for the existing group of unemployed individuals, 47,000 of whom are registered as long-term unemployed. Compared to others, Croatia has a very low employment rate for young highly educated people. At the EU level, 82 out of 100 graduates are employed. In the statistical region of the Adriatic Croatia, employment of young people with higher education levels is only 57 percent, while in the continental part of the country, job opportunities for those with higher education are much better and 72 percent find employment within three years of graduation.

Eurostat states that in addition to the unemployed from the official register, another 22,000 economically inactive workers in the second quarter were employed in Croatia, these people weren't registered as unemployed but were clearly interested in getting job when one was available to them. A year earlier, 27,000 people went into employment during the same period. In the third quarter, 45,000 economically inactive people got jobs last year. All this shows that people do want to work if given the opportunity to do so.

Among the 10 most sought after jobs currently offered, those in the low-paying service sectors continue to dominate.

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While the Croatian Government has decided on the total abolition of foreign employment quotas, which should boost the economy by providing easier access to the Croatian labour market for third country (non-EU) nationals, and take effect in early 2020, it seems that the Croatian economy will still spend some time proverbially biting its nails as certain key industries struggle until then.

As Novac/Dora Koretic writes on the 9th of November, 2019, Jutarnji list is in possession of the first unofficial version of the 2020 quota decision, which was delivered to all stakeholders in the negotiation process for foreign workers last week. And it has, again unofficially, caused a considerable level of dissatisfaction with a good part of the sector.

The dissatisfaction is being felt primarily by the tourist sector, which is Croatia's strongest economic branch. According to the first (still unofficial) version of next year's quota decision, a mere 20,000 of the total 81,600 proposed quotas have been allocated to the tourism sector, mainly new employment and seasonal workers.

The reason for dissatisfaction lies in the fact that the aforementioned figure is almost identical to the quotas available to the sector this year, but also in the fact that from 2020 onwards, Croatia will face new circumstances that will see it require a significantly larger number of foreigners.

"We in tourism expect that we'll need between 30 and 35 thousand foreigners in total if we want to cover all our needs," said the director of the Croatian Tourism Association, Veljko Ostojić.

Ostojić pointed out that the increase in quotas is necessary because, as of January the 1st, 2020, the Austrian labour market will finally open its doors to Croatian citizens, meaning they will no longer require work permits and will be treated the same as other EU nationals. This means that an even larger proportion of seasonal workers will be employed by companies from outside of Croatia, and will move across the border.

“We're already getting information from larger hotel companies that some seasonal workers have announced that they're going to Austria, which is relatively nearby, and they can then can earn higher wages from next year on. Our suggestion, therefore, is to reach the figure of 30 thousand quotas plus an additional five thousand which could be activated at the minister's discretion. We don't want to start having petty arguments about the numbers like we did last year,'' said Ostojić, emphasising the fact that hoteliers must start recruiting all available manpower already.

"That's why [the figures] were sent to all the addresses to give people from the sector a chance to voice all of their comments and suggestions, only then will a final proposal be drafted for adoption,'' an informed source assured Novac. In addition, the source noted that a quota of 20,000 tourism workers has been set in order to bridge the period until quotas are completely abolished, which, according to the updated Law on Foreigners, is expected in spring 2020.

The subject of foreign workers for Croatian tourism was also touched on by Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli at the London Tourism Fair over recent days. However, the ministry didn't want to comment specifically on the first unofficial, much-lower-than-expected (and apparently disappointing) quota proposal.

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As Novac/Kristina Turcin writes on the 13th of October, 2019, only 13 percent of Croatian employers, or one in eight of them, fulfilled their legal obligation last year and employed a number of people with disabilities, according to the annual report on the work of the Institute for Expertise, Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment of Persons with Disabilities for 2018.

According to the law on the matter, an employer who is subject to what is known as quota employment of persons with disabilities with twenty or more employees is obliged to employee one person with a proven disability of some sort. As such, at least three percent of the total number of employees working for these employers should be persons with disabilities, employed in a suitable workplace and with the appropriate working conditions.

According to the Croatian Employment Service, last year, there were 9,435 such employers in Croatia: 2,670 operating in the public sector, 6,659 in the private sector, 106 among civil society organisations, and 364 new employers for whom the prescribed 24-month deadline during which they have to fully comply with the law has not yet expired.

Out of a total of 9,435 taxpayers, only 1,266, or 13.41 percent, completely fulfilled this obligation, 14.42 percent fulfilled their obligation partially, and 6,179 or 65.5 percent did not employ any persons with disabilities at all.

Since the law prescribes penalties, or perhaps better to say mandatory fees, that employers who do not meet this particular quota for employment must pay into the state budget, it seems that for two thirds of employers, paying a penalty is a more acceptable option than employing people with disabilities.

Two conclusions can be drawn from this: either the prescribed fine is too low and employers really aren'y bothered about trying to fulfill the obligation to employ persons with disabilities, or for too many of them the “appropriate workplace and appropriate working conditions” they have to prepare for persons with disabilities are far too strictly prescribed.

According to the legal provisions, every Croatian employer who is bound by this law and who did not employ the required number of persons with disabilities is obliged to pay into the state budget thirty percent of what would be minimum wage each month for each person with disabilities who they had to employ, and yet did not.

During 2018 in particular, that compensation amounted to 1031.94 kuna per person. For a larger employer that employs 100 people and is obliged to ensure that at least three people employed there are disabled, the penalty is slightly less than 3,100 kuna per month, which is not much at all for most Croatian employers of that size. A total of just over 216 million kuna was paid into the budget from fines collected on this issue last year alone.

9,435 Croatian employers are subject to so-called quota employment of persons with disabilities (employing more than twnety workers with three percent of those employees needing to be persons with disabilities).

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The popular Erste Bank has introduced the option of extended work during the first four working days and shorter working days on Fridays, and HT also widened employees' choice of arrival and departure time. How to retain workers and attract new, good quality employees is a burning question for Croatia's employers. Could this be at least a partial answer?

As Poslovni Dnevnik/Ana Blaskovic writes on the 7th of October, 2019, although some people, such as Tourism Minister Gari Cappelli, tell those in the hospitality sector: "Please increase your salaries, then you'll have staff", the situation is still somewhat more complicated than just a fatter wedge at the end of every month.

One solution is flexible working hours and thus the creation of better working conditions for employees. Atlantic Group, co-owned by Emil Tedeschi, has announced that the company is considering introducing a four-day work week, which is already a popular concept in some countries.

Tedeschi suggested the idea at a summit in Belgrade, Serbia, and it immediately struck a chord with the media, despite the fact that this isn't the first or the only solution to bypass the classic "9 to 5" working day.

Compressing five working days into four, which takes away ten hours and gives workers three days of rest, which (theoretically) reduces stress and increases productivity, was introduced by the consulting firm Logic Matrix. The Atlantic Group chief emphasised that we should not only think about how to attract a quality workforce, but also how to retain it.

"Responsible people also care about a range of amenities that include a quality work environment, a corporate culture and a good balance of leisure and work, and we're seriously considering a four-day work week," said Tedeschi.

Although Poslovni Dnevnik asked the company for further details about the direction in which the idea was being put into practice, corporate communications said that the statement was "widely interpreted" and could say that it was indeed being considered, but not that the idea was in the operationalisation phase yet.

They note, however, that they are already trying to ensure that working conditions within their company are as flexible as possible, such as a working day off for the first day of school or working from home in certain conditions. Although the topic is a burning issue for Croatia's employers, the umbrella association of the Croatian Employers Association (HUP) didn't want to comment on this mode of attracting and retaining workers.

When it comes to flexibility, the Croatian Labour Law is of course quite rigid and requires a working week of at least forty hours, but that can be moved around a little if contracted as such.

In Orbic, which employs 8,000 employees across twenty countries, with more than 900 employees right here in Croatia, they're not even thinking about it. "Nobody leaves our company and we're not thinking about it," says owner Branko Roglić. As one of Europe's largest consumer goods distributors, Orbico will exceed 2.5 billion euros in revenue this year.

Erste already has a version of the four-day work week, although not in full form, at that bank the option is called "Short Friday", which comes down to extended work during the first four work days and a shorter work day on Fridays.

Among other options, Erste points out that they allow employees to work less time in jobs where that type of work permits it, the possibility of part-time work, the possibility of introducing work hours with a different start and finishing time within the same organisational unit, depending on the needs of workers and job opportunities, and the "My Day'' project is a flexible workplace initiative where employees are allowed to work out of the office up to four times a month.

Hrvatski Telekom (Croatian Telecom) points out that they know of the possibility of working hours that deviate from the usual five-day working week, and this possibility is incorporated in HT's collective agreement.

"Working time flexibility is one of the most important benefits recognised by our employees, which is why we've recently expanded the available forms of flexible working to support the development of the digital company," they claim from HT.

In June, they introduced the possibility of more frequent work from home through the "Friday in slippers" project, as well as more flexible daytime work, and a greater choice of arrival and departure times for those who are permitted by the nature of their jobs.

"Depending on feedback, we'll continue to expand our capabilities. We're aware that when it comes to attracting and retaining key talent, working time flexibility is an important element," they say in HT.

Ina has been using flexible forms of work since 2016, with more than 1,200 workers using it today, with an average satisfaction rate of 99 percent, they say. Employees can choose "FlexiTime", the ability to choose the start and end of the workday and the length of that day, as well as "FlexiPlace", which is the option of working from home four times a month.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for much more on working in Croatia.