[ad_1]
There may be a shortage of staff
Delfi has previously written that workers who until now came to Lithuania from third countries were exempted from the obligation to obtain a work permit if their profession was included in the list of absent professions. The professions included in this list also received visas and residence permits more easily.
Although the number of employees willing to work on this list was not limited in the past, the order has changed since 2021. In 2021, the quotas will allow to employ 32.2 thousand people in a lighter order. foreigners whose profession is included in the list of employees of the missing professions in Lithuania. Of which: 11.6 thousand employees in the service industry (mainly transporters), 9.5 thousand. – industry, 9.1 thousand – under construction and 2 thousand. in agriculture.
It is true that once the quotas are filled, this will not mean that the worker will no longer be able to enter the country to work, but will face a much more complicated hiring procedure.
Povilas Drižas, general secretary of the International Transport and Logistics Alliance (TTLA), said that the quotas established for the transport sector, which amount to 11.6 thousand, are too low at present.
According to him, only in 2019. 29 thousand people were employed in Lithuania. drivers from third countries, and in 2020 until November 16. – 25.5 thousand.
As of January 15, according to the Department of Migration, almost 12 thousand. This year 136 quotas have already been exhausted (the number can be seen here), and the biggest fear, according to carriers, is that they will simply run out.
“There is fear and desire to ensure that it is not the case that 3-4 months will pass, the quota will end and we will have a bottleneck when there is no rapid recruitment of drivers from third countries and then the entire logistics chain with all the consequences for the end user and for all processes.
If it happened that there was no one to transport the goods to, we probably wouldn’t be talking about prices here, but there would be no more goods, but we haven’t done that research yet.
Now we are only logically summarizing the figures that if we have so many drivers employed each year, and the quota for this year is 11.6 thousand, then the answer is clear that one day it will end and there will be a shortage of them, “he said. The Ministry Defense and Labor (SADM) says that fees will be reviewed during the year and can be increased, which means there is nothing yet.
“It’s good if we want to and we review that quota within three months.
The key question is whether the state is really ready for quota reviews. The fear that it is not too late to review the quotas, ”said P. Drižas.
It should increase to 50-60 thousand.
Romas Austinskas, president of Linava, also said that he saw the fears about the too low quotas set for this sector and assured that if they are not increased in time, it could lead to the exit of business from Lithuania.
Romas Austinskas
“Then the company will just leave Lithuania and register in Poland. The state will work in this place, because if it doesn’t suit us here, we will go elsewhere if the state doesn’t need the money to stay here.
Everyone, young and old alike, wants to stay in Lithuania and do business here. I think the quota should be 50 to 60 thousand. employees, “he commented.
It is true that P. Drižas had the same opinion about the increase in the number of quotas.
“We employ about 25-29 thousand people a year. Drivers from third countries.
There are also additional factors, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the isolation of people from the disease, and the other is the regulatory environment of the European Union (EU), the well-known Mobility Package. All of this leads to the fact that 2.5 people are needed to service a tractor instead of 1.5 people. In other words, according to our calculations, that quota should be between 50 and 60 thousand. people. This is a quota that would already be safe, ”said the spokesperson.
Ministry: We will increase fees as needed
Edita Banienė, head of the Communication Division of the Ministry of Social Security and Labor (SADM), stated that the general introduction of quotas from 2021 was determined by the situation in the Lithuanian labor market, when work permits for citizens of outside the EU they were replaced by a list of missing professions.
“Foreigners without a profession do not need to obtain a work permit, they are subject to simpler working conditions.
However, some foreigners who obtained national visas at the invitation of companies as representatives of the disappeared professions did not work in those companies and the employers did not know where the invited foreigners were. For this reason, it was decided to introduce a quota for absent professions for third-country nationals. This is expected to help assess the real need for these workers.
Unemployment has risen in the country today, so before hiring foreigners, we must first make sure that we have not found qualified employees in our country, “said the representative.
Although P. Drižas named different figures, based on data from the Employment Service, based on employer reports on the employment of foreigners submitted to Sodra, in 2020. 14,072 foreigners were hired, of whom 5,523 were drivers.
“If the quota is still exhausted, it will be possible to continue employing foreigners from disappeared professions, but the general procedure established in the Aliens Act will be applied, that is, after a labor market test and after verifying that there is no Lithuanian citizen or the appropriate EU, a work permit will be required., or a decision on the adequacy of the labor market needs. Thus, even if the quota is exceeded, it will be possible to import workers from third countries, but they will be subject to a test of the labor market, which usually takes up to 7 working days. The size of the quota itself can also be reviewed during the year, “said a representative of the Ministry of Social Affairs.
It was not specified when the fees could be revised and how much they could be increased.
“The size of the quota can be revised during the year, taking into account the situation of the labor market and the number of foreigners employed, the quota can be increased as necessary,” commented the representative of the ministry.
It is strictly prohibited to use the information published by DELFI on other websites, in the media or elsewhere, or to distribute our material in any way without consent, and if consent has been obtained, it is necessary to indicate DELFI as the source.
[ad_2]
