Work abroad is abundant and wages are higher: will returning emigrants to Lithuania stay?



[ad_1]

Mantas, who works for a construction company in Norway, says he lost his downtime.

“It just came to our attention then. Only restaurants, cafes, sports clubs and other entertainment venues were closed. Construction did not stop, so we worked as before the quarantine,” says the man.

According to him, although many people are now catching up with the coronavirus and the second wave of illnesses, finding work in Norway is quite easy.

“The jobs are offered by both construction and agricultural companies. Some even offer a higher salary just to find employees. The minimum employee can receive almost 16 euros per hour. However, more is paid for greater skills and experience” explains Mantas.

Asked about the hours of work, the man assures that these depend on the desire to earn and the length of the day.

“We often work in the summer whenever there is light. Sometimes we work 10, 12 or even 16 hours a day. By working hard and intensely, it is possible to earn about 4,000 euros a month. If you don’t want to “steal”, you earn a little less, about 3,000 euros.

However, those wages are received by unskilled workers. In Norway, for example, a qualified electrician earns between € 50 and € 100 an hour. To earn more it is necessary to know English, without it it is even more difficult to get an unskilled job ”, says Mantas.

Employee (photo of the municipality of Kaunas.

Valdas, another tv3.lt reader who works for a construction company in France, says he passed his quarantine in Lithuania.

“Initially, we promised not to stop the work, then we stopped it, but we promised that we could pass the quarantine in France. But in the end I had to go home. Nobody wanted to pay us our living in a foreign country. But very soon, at the end of the spring, we went back to work.

I only have to work with people who have recently had a coronavirus. It’s a bit worrisome. Their stories are terrifying and completely reluctant to compare the coronavirus to the conventional flu. These people had to spend a long time in hospitals until they made a full recovery, ”says the man.

According to him, despite the threat of the coronavirus, the hiring of new staff continues.

“And it raised the salaries of former employees. Currently I earn more than 2,000 euros a month,” says Valdas.

Foreign companies need employees

Rita Karavaitienė, Marketing Director of the job posting portal cvonline.lt, also noted that the number of job postings abroad has recently started to grow.

“Main work addresses abroad: Scandinavia, Germany, Holland, Ireland. And the job requires not only unskilled workers to work in warehouses or production, but also professionals in their field to work in construction, transportation, engineering.

Job advertisements looking for unskilled workers to work in German warehouses or production indicate that it is a quick exit and that there is no need to isolate yourself after leaving ”, says the specialist.

According to her, the number of these job openings is likely to increase daily as foreign companies are in need of manpower and the main reason that prevented them from going abroad to work was quarantine and self-isolation requirements.

Speaking of salaries, the specialist did not notice any change. According to her, they are the same as they were before the coronavirus pandemic.

The scale of emigration has decreased

Economists say the coronavirus pandemic brought emigrants back to Lithuania. According to them, some will leave and return to work abroad, but there is a high probability that the majority will remain in Lithuania. Therefore, we must find ways to recruit these people and where.

Swedbank chief economist Nerijus Mačiulis notes that more compatriots have returned this year due to the coronavirus than those who have gone abroad. According to him, this problem has been talked about a lot in the past, ways to fix it are being sought. But now it seems that the problem of emigration has been solved with a pandemic.

Nerijus Mačiulis

“It just came to our attention then. Not all the compatriots who returned are trying to get a job in Lithuania. Of course, some of them will return to the countries where they worked after the end of the coronavirus pandemic. However, a decision is needed. how we will try to include the remaining emigrants in Lithuania in the labor market ”, says N. Mačiulis.

Sigismund Mauricas, another chief economist at Luminor Bank, also says that, unlike the previous crisis, emigration flows have not increased but have been reduced.

“It is likely that they have been scaled down and will not grow further, as Lithuania has suffered the least from the coronavirus compared to other European countries.

In other countries, part of the workforce remains inactive. That is why they prefer these employees to the new ones. Furthermore, migrant flows are still limited by self-isolation rules. People who have come up with a “no place” no longer go. First they find work and only then do they go abroad, ”says the economist.

Sigismund Mauricas, chief economist at Luminor Bank.  Photo Day / Hope Domkutė

According to him, during the first 8 months of this year, the net migratory balance of Lithuanian citizens is +4.6 thousand, third-country nationals +6.9 thousand, and the total population of +11.6 thousand or a Lentvaris, Raseiniai or Vilkaviškis.

Furthermore, it is interesting that due to the positive balance of international migration, the total population of Lithuania started to grow, so that the “disappearance” Lithuania is becoming a growing Lithuania. These trends will undoubtedly have an impact on GDP indicators as well, especially considering that returning Lithuanian citizens bring with them useful skills, money and Western culture.

Therefore, I would not be surprised if Lithuania becomes the fastest growing economy in the Baltic countries in the next decade, with all the consequences for Estonia, ”says the economist.



[ad_2]