Among other things, the government will adopt a new labour market oversight decree and launch negotiations with Serbia about workforce flow. It is also examining the possibilities of opening the labour market to workers from non-EU countries.

"I'm very much in favour of the possibility to introduce a document similar to the EU Blue Card for appropriately-trained labour from third countries," said the minister.

She shared the view of others present that the education system also requires change. "We need to adapt training policies and we count on companies to encourage older workers to learn new skills."

GZS former boss Samo Hribar Milič said that some companies had already reported that they had problems due to the shortage of workers. "Demand is very high and there is a high need for new workers."

He said that projections for the next two years were not optimistic. "We will need to find workers in other parts of the EU and the Balkans, and we will have to introduce sustainable and effective measures." He believes that the measures should focus above all on cutting red tape.