The number of foreign workers in Serbia has been steadily increasing in recent years, and since the beginning of 2023, more than 32,000 work permits have been issued to foreigners, while 35,000 permits were issued last year, according to data from the National Employment Service (NSS). Most foreign workers in Serbia work in the field of construction.
“Serbia needs to import labor force and it shows. It dictates the supply and demand ratio. This is what employers are looking for who cannot find adequate profiles of workers on the domestic labor market or a sufficient number of interested workers who will work in areas that often require an increased volume of work,” Zoran Martinović, director of the National Health Service said.
Last year’s number of work permits for foreign workers was almost reached in eight months.
Martinović said that until a few years ago, the issue of foreign workers in Serbia was almost invisible because their number was negligible.
As he added, foreign workers in Serbia most often work in the field of construction and we are talking about different profiles of personnel that Serbia lacks: masons, carpenters, welders, auxiliary construction workers, but also in catering, agriculture, and driver jobs.
“There are different profiles of workers who come and make up for the lack of domestic labor, and that is very valuable, because a large number of economic activities would not be able to function adequately otherwise,” says Martinović.
He adds that for many years the largest number of workers comes from China, in recent years, and especially in recent months from the Russian Federation, but that we also have a large number of workers from India, Turkey, North Macedonia, Albania. He also states that there has recently been an influx of workers from Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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