According to an IMAD analysis, the pool of Slovenian labour force could be expanded if citizens entered the labour market sooner and continued working for longer. The unemployed and the inactive population could also be activated.

Brain drain remains a major problem, so in order for the country to maintain a sufficient number of potential staff it is important that more people move into the country than leave it.

But this calls for an efficient migration and integration policy.

According to Labour Ministry State Secretary Tilen Božič, the state is promoting among both employers and employees the idea for people to stay in employment for longer.

But he also stressed that importing workers was inevitable, so events promoting Slovenian employers were also being organised abroad.

Saša Cvetko and Zvonko Kink, who are in charge of human resources at Knauf Insulation and car maker Revoz, respectively, said that despite efforts to find workers in Slovenia, their companies had eventually been forced to look for workers abroad.

This entailed overcoming several obstacles such as language barriers, housing issues and prejudice in local communities. Both Cvetko and Kink also called for speeding up procedures for obtaining working permits.

If Slovenia plans to continue importing labour force in the long term, "our goal must be for the immigrants to stay here", said the head of the Institute for Slovenians Abroad and Migration, Marina Lukšič Hacin.

"They must be given the opportunity to become full-fledged members of our society. We must be aware we are accepting people and not just workers," she said.