Farms ready to hire seasonal workers: in addition to education, you can earn 900 euros “in your hands”

“Employers are partly to blame for the lack of people. When we couldn’t pay living wages, we did. The man, when he found where better, and left. However, the size of the salary is not the main factor in supporting a person, as the majority of the village already pays living wages. Apart from the thousands of euros, there are not many people working, ”says Petras Puskunigis, director of the Lithuanian Association of Agricultural Companies, and says that so far there is no shortage of people, but there is no other option.

Also, people are already planning their life, wanting to get loans and will not offer them a reward in an envelope. On the other hand, people leave the labor market if they receive enough benefits. In addition, Ukrainians already travel quite a bit, especially where seasonal labor is needed, such as in gardens, animal husbandry. Only now are they formally published from Poland and taxes are paid to that state.

Development suspended

Evaldas Masevičius, the owner of “Evaldas daržovės”, which grows greenhouse vegetables, says the pandemic has slowed development, but now everything is going according to plan again. The foreign technologists simply had to come, but they would have had to be quarantined for two weeks and Lithuanians would have to pay a salary for this time off. The situation did not satisfy either party. Now it is possible to come without self-isolation, the projects will continue to advance. Another problem was that even people who could repair specific equipment couldn’t come. There are simply no such people in Lithuania.

“We have people, there is no shortage of seasonal people, we do not plan to bring them from third countries, but in other regions there are problems with seasonal workers,” explains Jonas Janišius, Director of UAB Ažuožerių sodai.

The company, which maintains 160 hectares of gardens, constantly employs 50 people and increases by 120 during the season.

“It just came to our attention then. People, like store cashiers, even take vacations to work with us. Picking apples a day, a person earns between 60 and 70 euros ”, explains J. Janišius.

Regions vary

However, when it comes to permanent workers, Evaldo’s vegetable growers are also lacking and there are no plans to transport Ukrainians from Poland.

“There is no shortage of staff. We can already choose people. Many arrivals, we do not accept anything. We simply offer a salary better than the average in these countries. We employ people with food products, the responsibility is great,” explains E. Masevičius.

The company employs 49 people. He also mentions the amounts: an uneducated person can earn between 800 and 900 euros “in his hands” and this is in the countryside, quite far from the big cities. According to the businessman, the question is whether it is a high salary, when in large cities people with higher education earn between 1,000 and 1,100 euros per month.

“There is no shortage of staff. It is just a question of salaries so you can collect them. The other two important things are the atmosphere in the team and the prestige and working conditions. If you try to hire some people in the middle of the field who do not even they have a place to change, they are going to escape, “says E. Masevičius, who says that he once had more than 70 people, but reduced the equipment. Instead, he modernized production better, increased wages, but work slowed down. became more intense.

“Not everyone wanted higher wages and more efficient work. They used to say that they had enough for € 500, but that they would no longer work for € 800 and would leave their jobs. But it is a European way to add value to their business when it arrives People who work for 400 euros a month often create value for only 200 “, explains E. Masevičius, saying that people who have enough for several hundred euros, but do not always come to work, have already been eliminated and most companies follow that path.

We won’t make it without foreigners

J. Janišius admits that workers from third countries will continue to be needed, because it is not possible to find enough workers in all regions, although this path is not easy: those who come must be accommodated and trained.

“Until now, we have calculated that it is better to increase the salary even more and it will be easier than bringing people from third countries. Also, when the same people come for seasonal work, they know the details of the job and their efficiency is much higher than for newcomers, ”says the director of Ąžuožerių sodai.

Mr Puskunigis proposes to simplify the system, because Ukrainians are already working, only they are legally imported by Polish companies.

The Seimas occupied the Ukrainians

The Seimas Rural Affairs Commission also discussed how to facilitate the importation of people from third countries.

Giedrius Surplys, a member of the Seimas, said that although unemployment is huge at first glance, it is difficult to find employees.

“On the one hand, we need workers for larger companies, gardeners, planters who need a lot of seasonal workers. On the other hand, unemployment has risen and we have more than 200 thousand. unemployed people. We need to go deeper, because the system forces people not to work, and we would like to instill in people from third countries, worsen the conditions of our people and maybe stop people who want to return from emigration ”, explains Arūnas Svitojus, president . of the Chamber of Agriculture.

Algis Baravykas, director of the Lithuanian Pig Farmers Association, gives a concrete example that, for example, Cestos Maistas has a slaughterhouse in Vilnius, farms in different districts, poultry farms and a chain of shops. Although it employs more than 700 people, it is difficult to find people. The more so since the sector is not profitable and it is difficult to pay high salaries. The benefits paid simply prevent people from being accepted.

“Profits are a politically uncomfortable topic, but that’s why we have to force people to come in because we can’t produce products,” explains A. Baravykas.

The problem for gardeners is that when hiring people for seasonal jobs using so-called service vouchers, the amount that can be paid is limited and must be increased.

Jonas Vilionis, representative of the Lithuanian Agriculture Council, says he has seen the problem for a long time. In Lithuania, theoretically 6 thousand. tractors, many milkers and the Employment Service constantly send the same people with a single application to be issued a certificate that they do not meet the requirements.

Also, when the tractor costs 300 thousand. This may not give all drinkers a chance to drive. Change the procedure so that we can incorporate agricultural professionals into a simplified procedure as tractor drivers. Until now, the bureaucracy is huge and continues for months, ”says J. Vilionis.

Vitalija Kuliešienė, president of the Lithuanian Association of Commercial Gardens “Fruits and berries”, a representative of gardeners, says that in September, when hundreds of people are needed to harvest. It would be easier if people from other sectors already had the opportunity to recruit people without the tenders announced by the Employment Service and to hire them. Another problem is the taxation of income. In 2012, once approved, they can be used for a fee of up to € 18 per day. No one is working for that amount today and it is necessary to increase the amount.

Surplys says agriculture as of January 1. included in the list of professions for which people from third countries can work through a simplified procedure, but the activities are very specific. Perhaps your list needs to be expanded.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Agriculture says it has received a request to include milkers, tractor drivers and people of similar specialties on the list and that the request has been sent to the Employment Service and the ministry would support the simplification.

Rasa Malaiškienė, Chief Specialist of the Labor Market Division of the Ministry of Social Security and Labor, says that getting a permit to work in seasonal jobs for 6 months. per year very simple. All you have to do in the application is to indicate the details of the foreigner and where he will live. The request is processed within 7 days. The employer can be divided into periods of several months. The permit itself costs 34 euros. There is no qualification requirement.

A spokeswoman for the Employment Service says benefits are no longer a barrier to returning to the job market. As the law changed, the number of those people dropped from 300 to 40,000.

“The representatives of our bureaucratic apparatus draw everything perfectly, but let them try to bring in a tractor driver themselves. He must have almost graduated from university. Obtaining a visa is not so easy either. Why not include a milker or a tractor driver, a farm worker? If a person suits me, why can’t I bring him? ”, J. Vilionis resents.

Ms Malaiškienė reiterated that all third country nationals and their groups in the EU are grouped according to their qualifications. A work permit for a foreigner can be obtained in a few days. We must comply with the requirements established by the EU.

Zofija Cironkienė, director of the Lithuanian Vegetable Growers Association, joked that the officials spoke so convincingly that she even believed the system was very simple. However, the Employment Service writes that a work permit for a foreigner will be issued only when there are no people with such qualifications in Lithuania and will be sent to people who do not want to work. Then the Poles will send us Ukrainians on duty and pay taxes to Poland.

The Seimas Rural Affairs Commission decided in a separate session to prepare proposals on what is worth changing.