August the 19th, 2024 – Workers imported from third countries (non-EEA) has been a hot topic for many months now. Where would Croatian tourism be without foreign labour in this day and age?
As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, given the current state of affairs with the ever-shrinking domestic workforce, would Croatian tourism even be able to exist in its current form without foreign labour? Employers have been honest and said – no.
is foreign labour propping up croatian tourism?
“I think my place might even be closed right now,” said Tedi Bašić, the owner of a restaurant. Tedi and his family employ 130 workers across several facilities. Half of his workforce is made up of foreign labour. Mainly from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia.
When asked what the average salary is for a waiter in the hospitality industry, Bašić answers that it is currently close to 2,000 euros.
When they first arrive, foreign workers undergo a ten-day training course on the wine and food offer.
“It took me a good 15 days, but I had good colleagues and a good working atmosphere, so they helped me,” Ivana Stojković from Banja Luka told HRT.
“I sent the basic documents myself, I was in Croatia for one month and then I started working,” said Stevan Matičić from Banja Luka.
foreign labour accounts for 20% of istria’s tourism workforce
Large hotel companies in Istria, on the other hand, rely on foreign labour to boost Croatian tourism from the Far East. Workers from that part of the world account for about twenty percent of the total number of employees there now.
“The most numerous among them are the Filipinos, followed by people from Indonesia. Then comes people from Ukraine, Macedonia and other neighbouring countries,” said Sani Jelčić, Head of Employment at the Arena Hospitality Group. The Filipinos mostly work in the kitchens and as valets, and describe being more than satisfied with their working conditions.
“I’m rich in the Philippines when I come home, and I regularly send money home to my family for my daughter,” said Lorenz from the Philippines.
“I hope to come back to work here, to extend my stay because I like working with people here,” said Edmar from the Philippines.
“The salary is good, better than it was before when I worked in Qatar. The conditions here are good,” noted Romel from the Philippines.
It has been stated that foreign labour is contributing to negative salary changes in not only Croatian tourism but across the board, but the reality is that their wages are equal to those earned by the locals. On an annual level, a foreign employer actually ends up costing 3 to 5 thousand euros more than a domestic worker.
“I wouldn’t say that with the percentages we have in Croatian tourism that they affect the cost of labour. I think that this is prescribed by the legislator and that these people receive the same payments and the same conditions as domestic employees do,” stressed Alex Živković, director of the Grand Hotel Brioni in Pula, adding that if Croatia wants to maintain its image, the share of foreign labour should not continue to increase.
However, it has been estimated that without foreign labour propping up Croatian tourism, around 40 percent of the workforce would be missing in not only tourism but construction on the national level.
