In 2021, Bulgaria imported over 10 thousand workers from third countries, and in 2024 their number is already around 36 thousand. The data is from the Employment Agency.
Despite the increase in hired workers from countries outside the European Union, the deficit in the labor market in our country is increasing by over 25%. In 2022, business in our country needed 205 thousand people, and at the end of last year, the number of vacant positions was already 262 thousand.
According to national statistics, Bulgaria has an internal reserve of over 1 million inactive persons, with 85,000 of them expressing a desire to work. More and more workers from countries such as Uzbekistan, the Philippines, Nepal and India are starting work in our country.
Amit Shiyan is an Indian and has been working as a head chef in one of the largest hotels in Sunny Beach for 3 years.
“Last summer, my friends from India came to work here for five months. About 50 people came, and this year we expect over 60. They are satisfied and come with their entire families to work in Bulgaria“, he tells bTV.
Last year alone, about 50,000 workers from third countries started working in our country. According to economist Georgi Vuldjev, the increase in labor imports does not solve structural problems, but deepens them.
“What we see as mass imports is not so much specialists, but mass labor. There is a replacement of local young and less educated workers, especially in the construction and hotel sectors,“ he explains.
“There is a very serious risk that Bulgaria will become addicted to the import of cheap labor, that a model that relies on cheap labor will become entrenched, that not enough investments will be made in capital, in technology, in education“, the economist added.
The Bulgarian Hotel Association does not share this opinion. According to Vesselin Danev, hiring people from third countries is not cheaper because the law obliges employers to pay them not only salaries, but also plane tickets and accommodation.
“It would be much better for us to hire people from within the country, but unfortunately this resource is lacking. In my opinion, we as a country, not only in tourism, with this shortage of people, cannot cope without an intelligent attitude towards migration,“ he explains.
Danev is categorical that people from third countries also occupy highly paid positions, and their motivation to work in our country is great.