Slovenia's labour market has been exceptionally tight for several years. Companies looking to fill vacancies, especially low-wage jobs, have no choice but to hire foreign workers, as a result of which the share of non-EU workers has been increasing rapidly to hit 15% last January, up 6.5 points in just six years.

For decades most foreign workers have come from the Western Balkans, but companies, and the government, are now looking increasingly towards Asia.

"Slovenia is facing a severe shortage of labour. Foreign workers are important, not only for the corporate sector but also to maintain our standard of living," the Labour Ministry says.

As the share of foreign workers has grown, the ratio of employed to retired people has improved to 1.57 over the last ten years. "This affects the level of pensions and the sustainability of the pension system," it said.

Range of source countries expanding, worker protection key

Since Western Balkan countries are facing labour shortages themselves as a result of decades of brain and brawn drain, Slovenia will have to look beyond the region for foreign workers.

"We do not want to do this haphazardly, we are aware of the potential risks," the ministry said.

The government is pursuing a policy of bilateral agreements with source countries.

Such agreements have been concluded with Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia in recent years, and another is in the making with the Philippines.

A memorandum of understanding with the Philippines is to be finalised in the coming weeks, to be followed up with two agreements, on employment and social security.

Based on these agreements, workers could be introduced to their future jobs while still in the Philippines and start learning Slovenian before arriving here.

The ministry said it is in the country's interest for the workers to have the best possible working conditions here, so that they come in great numbers. "The fear is that they would opt for other countries where wages are higher."

The ministry is also considering other countries, but is first checking whether they have a good institutional framework which enables cooperation of employment agencies and contributes to prevention of abuse of worker rights.

Labour Minister Luka Mesec underlines the need to hire through official channels such as the Employment Service to protect both foreign workers and Slovenian workers and their wages. "Foreign workers must be paid on exactly the same terms as domestic workers. This is the only way to prevent social dumping," he said.

The ministry will change the Act on the Employment, Self-Employment and Work of Foreigners to set down conditions to obtain the EU Blue Card, the European Union's work and residence permit for non-EU citizens.

The bill will also provide for the introduction of seasonal work in hospitality and tourism, especially in summer and winter months, allowing third-country citizens to work either on the basis of a residence and work permit (for up to six months) or a seasonal work permit (for up to three months).

Spike in workers from Kosovo, bulk of permits for construction workers

Farmers excluded, Slovenia had nearly 920,000 persons in employment in January 2024, of whom just over 15% were foreigners, up from 14% in January 2023 and under 9% in January 2018, shows data provided by the Statistics Office.

The number of foreign workers has been rising fast since 2016, save for a slowdown during covid.

In 2016, 16,300 work permits were issued, by 2022 the figure had grown to 48,440; in 2022 it stood at 44,680. The majority are from Bosnia, Kosovo, Serbia, and North Macedonia.

Employment Service data shows a particular spike in permits for workers from Kosovo. In 2016, just over 940 were issued, or 6% of the total, but by 2022 the number had grown to nearly 15,000 in 2022 or 31% of the total.

Last year the trend slowed with 12,880 permits issued to Kosovars, or just under 29% of the total.

Other countries from where the number of workers increased in recent years are Turkey and Asian countries (India, Nepal and Bangladesh), which is mainly due to large infrastructure projects, some of which are being built by Turkish construction firms.

The majority of permits have been issued for the construction industry, followed by manufacturing, transport and warehousing, hospitality and agriculture.