Foreigners save the Lithuanian labor market?

At least 20 percent of the bed and mattress factory. foreigners of employees. According to the manager of the company, they were not afraid of work.

« There are a lot of professions with us – and with metal, we make spring, we cut the foam, the joinery is, » said Arvydas Padvakas, head of Padvaukas ir Ko.

The mattresses are made by Ukrainians, and quite a few citizens of Kirgistan or Indian. Men who come from Uzbek stands at the machine. Lithuania seduced them with good salary.

« It pays more here than in my country, so I come, » he said.

Much is not to talk, they are in a hurry to return to work.

« Everything is very good here. The work is really good, the earnings are good, everyone helps each other.

The factory work is almost around the clock and the employees are still lacking. Even if they arrive for a short time, foreigners rescue.

« If not foreigners, we would not be able to make a large part of orders. By the autumn it would be 100 persons, » Padvak said.

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Seasonal workers are also lacking in Lithuania. During the first months of this year, the Employment Service issued such work permits almost three times more than during the same period last year.

« This year, more than 360 of such work permits were issued during the period under consideration.

Men from 15 different countries are mostly looking for temporary work. Mostly from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. You want to be chefs, semi -finished products, strawberry growers, or building cleaners.

« This year’s absolute leader, in terms of professions, work functions, that is, road users. We see that in Lithuania road repairs and construction are very fast, » said the head of the Employment Service Division.

More than half of the arrivals were employed and employed.

« During the warm season, those jobs take place the most, so the lack of employees is filled with foreigners and citizens of third countries, » said Šarūnas Frolenko, head of the Lithuanian Roads Association.

According to employers, Lithuanians say it is difficult to please. If the strawberries themselves have been picking in the past, foreigners are now working in our country.

« Lithuanians are choosing maybe more value added works not only in Lithuania, but they are going abroad, where earnings are higher, » said Vidmantas Janulevičius, President of the Confederation of Industrialists.

Unemployment in Lithuania is almost 9 percent. Thus, economists estimate that employees from abroad are useful.

« We estimate that the rates would be deprived of 0.3 per cent of GDP growth this year. So if those migrants have a similar GDP for seasonal work, then those foreigners compensate some of the losses, » said Alexander Izgorodin, economist.

155 thousand unemployed in Lithuania. The choice seems big, but it refuses the job offered.

« You sit at home, get benefits, and then, when the benefits end, you get a job again, because every company will accept, if you are not a drunkard, not a thief, not a passerby, » said A. Padaikas.

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In the European Union, Lithuania pays one of the most generous benefits. Up to 1.3 thousand can be obtained per month. euros.

« We, of course, have the Garde of the unemployed, because it is just worthwhile to be unemployed, they raise more income from different sources, » Janulevičius explained.

« Can the state do something with the business so that those who do not work today start work? We probably have no decades of answer, » said Sh. Frolenko.

Meanwhile, Minister Inga Ruginienė is already proposing to increase benefits – up to € 1,600. However, the conditions would be tightened.

« You have been using it for nine months, have to work for another 12 months and have the right to 9 months again, » said I. Ruginienė.

The economist says it is crucial for the country’s economy to attract highly skilled workers. The upcoming tax reform, he says, can be further alienated by professionals.

« You can’t say we want to attract talents to work and earn here, and say the next day – we’ll increase your taxes and you will now pay a higher PIT rate, » Izgorodin said.

According to the latest data, about 146 thousand people employ in Lithuania. foreigners from 137 countries.