13.12.2023

A NEW PLATFORM WILL CONNECT EU EMPLOYERS AND THIRD -PARTY WORKERS

The average percentage of vacancies in the EU at the end of 2022 reached a historic peak - about 3% (more than twice the level of 2012), according to a study by Eurofound. Nearly one -third of employers indicate that the shortage of staff is already preventing them from producing goods and providing services. The problem is widespread, it also feels sharply in Bulgaria - from restaurant and tourism to production. And it's obviously supranational.

Against this background, in mid -November, the EC presented the first of its kind package for "Talents Skills and Mobility", which aims to attract qualified third -country workers. The measures include a new platform - EU Talent Pool to connect EU employers to third -party job seekers. Actions are further provided to promote the recognition of qualifications and mobility of students.

The initiative is from three European Commissioners - EC Vice-President Margaritis Schinas, Ilva Johansson, Commissioner for the Interior, and the new Bulgarian Commissioner Iliana Ivanova, who is responsible for innovation, research, culture, education and youth. "Europe is involved in the World Talents Competition. It is no less important than raw materials racing. The main competitors of Europe here are the US, Canada, New Zealand and Australia," said Ivanova (the whole interview with -down).

The problem with the lack of staff

By 2023, the struggle for staff was most acute in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany and the Netherlands, but in certain sectors and professions, shortage was critical throughout the EU. "The sectors with a structural shortage are tourism, hotel and restaurant, information technology, healthcare and logistics. In some of them, the lack of staff is even bigger after the pandemic," says the Bulgarian Commissioner. According to her, the environmental and digital economy that the EU is striving for also requires new labor, new specific skills and restructuring in the labor market. It is likely to affect particularly sectors such as construction, energy, industry and transport.

Against this background, Brussels has reason to worry that demographic changes, aging population and low birth rates will only exacerbate these challenges. By 2030, a working -age population in Europe is expected to decrease to 258 million in 265 million by 2022.

The new plan

The talent platform "will change the rules of the game," the EC said. In addition to connecting employers and job seekers, it will also provide information on the recruitment procedures from third countries and migration in the Member States, it will also include measures to ensure fair rental and labor conditions. Participation in the so -called. EU Talent Pool will be voluntary for Member States. The platform will cover all types of work and skills on the "talent ladder" (low, medium and highly qualified workers), incl. Long -term care workers - such as caregivers and those who look at the elderly or young children. "It makes a huge sense to them on this platform because they often find themselves in an unregulated situation," says EC vice -chairman Margaritis Skhinas. It is not possible to judge how many "talents" will be hired through the platform, but the goal is as much as possible if they respond to vacancies, adds Commissioner Johansson.

"The emphasis will be on the 42 most common professions, the list being prepared by the EC. It will be based on the experience of the EURES platform (the European Employment Services Cooperation Network designed to facilitate the free movement of Union workers) , but it seems that it will not be part of it and will be intended to be operatively compatible with other staffing platforms, "said Maria Mincheva - Deputy Chairman of the Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and rapporteur on the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee on the subject.

The second component of the EC package is for easier and faster recognition of third-country citizens' qualifications. The aim is to develop the capacity of the national authorities in this area. This does not accurately harmonize the rules for recognizing qualifications of non-EU citizens (which is not excluded from happening at a later stage), but will help somewhat easier to facilitate procedures in Member States. The EC Vice-President Schinas sets an example with the pandemic of Covid, when at the most critical moment Member States could not get healthcare workers because of the inability to recognize qualifications in other countries.

The platform also has a third component that aims to further encourage educational mobility within the EU.

How Business accepts the idea

Immediately after the initiative was announced, the BusinessEurope CEO (the largest lobbying business organization in Brussels) Marcus J. Bayrer welcomes her: "It is high time for the EU to acknowledge the role of economic migration in assisting in dealing with labor and skills needs in Europe." And he adds that it is of vital importance that employers are closely involved in upcoming discussions.

Maria Mincheva from BIA says that their "members of all sectors put the lack of people as one of the most sensitive problems - workers in all positions of all levels of qualification are needed." According to her, the EC advocates for greater flexibility and reduction of administrative burden for third-country citizens, and this will certainly help the business.

According to European Commissioner Iliana Ivanov, the initiative is for the benefit of all Member States. "It does not treat them selectively. How they would take advantage of it depends largely on national authorities. They must make a reality the opportunities that the proposal creates." Maria Mincheva is of the same opinion: "In the last few months we have intensive communication with the various agencies involved in the process. For us a major role in improving the process is its digitalization - something that the Ministry of Electronic Governance works and will soon present its platform," she says.

The initiative is yet to be approved by the European Parliament and the Council before it becomes a fact, but "in any case it will be completed in full from the next EC after 2024," Mincheva says.

Iliana Ivanova, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth

How serious is the problem of labor shortages in the EU?

75 percent of small and medium -sized enterprises say they do not find the people they need. The goal of having 20 million professionals in the IT sector by 2030 is in question - so far there are 9 million such specialists. We need another 11 million.

Europe's demographic problem is also known. By 2070, the number of people of working age will drop from about 65% in 2019 to 54-56%. At the same time, the pressure on pension systems and social protection systems is increasing.

There are a major shortage of staff in 28 professions. In 2020, 14% of the EU workforce was employed. These are plumbers and installers of pipes, nurses, system analyzers, welders and oxidists, drivers of heavy goods vehicles, civil engineers, software developers.

As the population of Europe is aging, it is increasingly feeling a shortage in medicine and care for sick and elderly. It is expected that by 2030, 7 million jobs in this field will be created, and the EU labor market can only partially cover them.

Increasing the mobility of the workforce within the EU is not enough to meet these needs. When deficient footage moves, it means that some regions win and others lose because almost all Member States suffer from labor shortages. In short, EU's own workforce is not enough.

Bulgaria is one of the countries with the largest "brain drain". At the same time, sectors such as IT technologies are developing well and have a constant need for fresh resources. What will be the role of our country in the new initiative?

Participation in the platform is voluntary. No one forces countries to open their labor markets to third -country workers. They have to decide what staff they need, if they judge, use the tools that the EU offers them. They can add or remove the professions to the 42 already identified.

The same applies to the recommendation for educational mobility. We have the ambition to significantly increase the exchange of students, students, teachers who train between Member States and we also have instruments and financial resources to help it. But the key is in the hands of Member States.

Let us remember that education is an area of national rather than union competence under the contracts. The Commission and its services are available in terms of technical assistance, financing the exchange of learners and learners through a program such as Erasmus +, for example.

The proposed package is the first history initiative for organized labor migration in the EU, which addresses a shortage of labor in different sectors. It also aims to prevent illegal EU entries and the risks to illegal migrants. In order not to allow tragedies in the Mediterranean, there must be paths for legal migration.

Last year, there were 330,000 illegal arrivals in the EU. At the same time, we have 3.5 million solutions that allow legal immigration - more than 10 times more. Over one -third of them - 1.5 million - are because of the needs of the labor market. Today, third -country citizens hired in the EU are 10 million.

How will the recognition of experience, internship, qualifications of third -party migrants happen?

Now there is a lot of bureaucracy in the system of recognition of professional qualifications. It demotivates job applicants from third parties. We call this not "drain" but "wasting" of brains.

The Commission proposed to establish national services to recognize qualifications with greater capacity and in more active cooperation with the countries of origin of migrants, shorter time processing time and reduced costs for job seekers, simplified translation and certification processes.

Once they have found a job through the platform, will third-country workers need a work visa and how will it proceed?

The issuance of work visas and permanent residence permission remains in the hands of Member States. If an employer wants to hire a third -party job candidate, he or she must contact national authorities to issue a visa or permission to the applicant. We do not question who makes the final decisions on labor migration. What we want to do with the proposal is to facilitate job seekers to find the right job vacancies.

However, the Commission proposes a revision of two directives related to the entry and residence of third -country citizens in the EU - the Directive for Long-Term Residents and the Single Residence Permit Directive, adopted respectively in 2003 and 2011.

The proposed revision of the second includes an obligation for Member States to accept applications submitted both in them and in a third party. It is also envisaged that a four -month period for issuing a decision to cover the required entry visa and the time for conducting a labor market test. The proposal also contains the right of the authorization holder to replace the employer within the validity of the permit. We suggest that it does not take at least three months if its carrier is out of work.

The main changes to the Directive for the Long Term Residents, on the other hand, provide for the required five-year residence period to be cumulative, while gathering the residence periods in the different Member States. Periods of residence under temporary and national protection and also be respected during study. Member States to introduce control mechanisms to monitor actual residence and to ensure that this status is not abused.

It is also envisaged that the right to gather families without conditions for integration, with full access to work for their members, and the children of long-term residence, born in the EU, can acquire status immediately.