Croatia will lack half a million foreign workers by 2030

(Patria) - If it continues to grow at the current pace, the economy will lack between 450 and 500 thousand foreign workers in the next five years, by 2030.

If we do not want parallel societies, we urgently need to work on their integration into our community, it was said at the conference of the Croatian Chamber of Economy (HGK) EDUkarijera - Education for the Professions of the Future.

Petar Mišević, advisor to the president of HGK and vice-rector of the University North, says it is extremely important that educational programs are adapted, changed and revised to follow the needs of the labor market.

Croatia must have well-designed educational policies and new policies in the area of accepting foreign labor, given that most foreigners currently working in Croatia come not only from Southeast Europe but also from Asia.

- The integration of these workers requires broad cooperation not only of employers and state institutions, but also of local and regional self-government units - Mišević points out.

Given demographic trends and the low natural increase expected in the coming decades, the problem of labor shortage will remain a burning issue, so, Mišević notes, it is necessary to think about where the state will find and what kind of workers it will bring to Croatia, and there can be no improvisation.