ZAGREB, June 14 (Xinhua) -- The Croatian Employers' Association and the Croatian Tourism Association urged the country's government on Friday to raise the quota for foreign workers.
In a press release, they said the tourist season here is in jeopardy due to the lack of workers and that the government should respond to the crisis urgently.
"There are no local employees, while the quotas for foreign workers have already been exhausted. This necessitates urgent response from the Ministry of Labor and the government," said the two associations in the release.
Due to the lack of workers, they said, the opening of some tourist facilities, as well as restaurants and bars, is at risk. They said they are shocked by the slow response of the authorities, who have been ignoring their warnings for weeks, although this is only a technical problem that doesn't require budgetary allocations, just goodwill from the bureaucracy.
"There is a lack of workforce in the tourism sector. Employment of local workers is always the first option, but there is no readiness and interest from local workers. We are now missing workforce, but cannot import workers because of those unemployed don't want to work in tourism," noted the release.
In December 2018, the Croatian government increased the quota for foreign workers for 2019 to 65,100, nearly 20,000 more than previously planned. Most of the extra foreign workers were meant to fill jobs in the tourism and construction industries.
The two associations also noted that the decision to increase the quota was only a short-term solution. They stressed the need to remove administrative barriers to facilitate the implementation of the measure. In their opinion, the procedures for employing foreigners take too long, sometimes several weeks.
"Tourism generates up to 20 percent of GDP and the Croatian economy depends on the tourist season. A struggle for guests ends if there is no staff to provide service," said the associations.
