Private companies in Kosovo in trouble to find workers, search in neighbouring countries

Companies in different sectors in Kosovo speak of a major shortage of workers. Many say they are being forced to search for workers from neighboring countries because they fail to find workers in the country.

Representatives of businesses in Kosovo say that production, construction and trade companies are facing this problem.

Kosovo Economic Ode Chairman Berat Rukiqi, in a proposal for Radio Free Europe says lack of workers has resulted from what job seekers may even have been discouraged by the possibility of finding a job in private sector under good conditions.

This is not something that hasn't been forwarded to other countries, where a large number of people don't look for jobs for many reasons or are discouraged to find a job with equal conditions or are discouraged by the conditions that exist in the workplace. In the case of Kosovo, it may also be the diaspora that many people made unmotivated to look for work. There are also several jobs where employers cannot find workers prepared for the assigned workplace”, Rukiqi says.

As for tools from the diaspora, They remain an important source of the revenues of family economies in Kosovo. A year, the value of money sent by the diaspora, according to official data from the Central Bank of Kosovo, amounts to about 600m euros.

Meanwhile, as the other reason why job seekers are not interested in working in the private sector are working conditions and wages that are not like the ones that have the public sector.

Arsim Gashi, employee, says he wants work Only in the public sector and not private, since, as he says, working conditions are better.

“Po in the private sector works long and underpaid, and you don't have any security, they can fire you when they want you out. On public sectorThis does not happen, it respects workers' rights”, he says.

Brahim Selimaj, owner of the construction company “Elsa”, which is held in Pristina and Pec, shows there are serious problems for finding workers. According to him, this lack of workers will become even more pronounced in the future.

“For workers who are qualified in high construction, there will be an even greater lack on the eve of visa liberalisation, since countries, like Germany, have opened up the possibilities that qualified workers in the construction worker, to offer jobs, Germany needs workers who have high- and medium-size qualifications, in particular rude construction and in all segments that are related to the builder”, he says.

Meanwhile, according to representatives of the independent private sector Union, the lack of workers has resulted from poor working conditions in the private sector.

Yusuf Azem, chairman of this Union, tells Radio Europe that the long-term work schedule, contract-free work, low job safety, and low wages are the main reasons workers have made to avoid viewing the private sector as employment opportunities.

“Working There have been and there are enough, but they are reluctant to work in the private sector because of the rights violations of workers that have been done over and over. We have long warned that the private sector is not treating workers properly. True, there is a shortage in certain profiles, but there is also a shortage of unqualified workers”.

The company's “tenants did not want to respect the labour Law. If they continue to violate workers' rights and continue to pay low-wage workers I am very convinced that unless they have workers they will also be forced to close”, he says.

All this concern for job seekers to work in the private sector, according to Kosovo Economic Ode Chairman Berat Rukiqi, has prompted businesses to make strategies for the future so that the lack of workers does not influence their activity.

We are in discussions with business. There are orientations for the production sector to make automatism of jobs if there is a shortage of staff. There are businesses that have also begun to think about their strategy by creating better working conditions”, Rukiqi suggests.

According to some data from the Kosovo Statistics Agency, the average gross public sector salary in 2012, was 407 euros until 2016 was 525 euros, rising for 118. While in 2012, the private sector had an average gross salary of 367 euros, in 2016 it had 371 euros, which increased by only 4 euros.