Bozinovska: Reduction in German worker quota will hit Kosovo and Albania hardest

Aleksandra Bozinovska, Director of the Germany-focused employment agency “Kontekst” in Skopje, told Kosovo Online that the reduction in the annual quota for workers from the Western Balkans would affect Kosovo and Albania the most, where, according to her assessment, interest in moving to Germany for work was the highest. She said that despite the reduction in the number of available places, employment opportunities varied depending on the type of job, while workers’ experiences largely depended on how well prepared they were and whether their expectations were realistic.

According to her assessment, the processing of documents in Serbia, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro generally proceeds without lengthy waiting periods, which she believes indicates lower demand compared with Kosovo and Albania.

“The reduction will hit Kosovo and Albania the hardest, in my view, because that is where people currently wait the longest to obtain work permits. In Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, documents are processed on a daily basis. My assessment is that there is not enough demand. The quota allocated to us is sufficient. Even if it is reduced, there may be a slight delay, but it will not be significant. In Kosovo and Albania, however, demand is enormous, and that is where the problem will be felt,” Bozinovska said.

When it comes to the types of jobs that will be available, she explained that the so-called Western Balkans Regulation does not channel workers exclusively toward occupations requiring specific qualifications. Employment opportunities exist across different sectors as long as places remain available within the quota.

“There are places available as long as the quota remains open. This is the Western Balkans Regulation, which covers unskilled labor. Regardless of whether someone will be cleaning hospitals and hotels or working at McDonald’s, there are opportunities for all types of jobs until the quota is filled,” she said.

Bozinovska said there was no single age group that predominated among people moving to Germany. Those choosing to leave include young people who are still studying, people who have already started families, as well as those approaching the age of 45, which she cited as an important threshold in the context of employment.

“There are all kinds of people. There are those approaching 45, young people who leave, students who work for several summers in a row, complete their studies, graduate and then, after some time, pack their bags and leave. People with families and children leave, young people leave—everyone is leaving,” Bozinovska said.

According to her, workers generally have positive experiences in Germany, although much depends on how well prepared they are before leaving, whether they know what kind of job awaits them and what conditions they can expect. Problems arise when candidates leave with unrealistic expectations or expect their employer to arrange everything for them in advance, including both employment and accommodation.

“First of all, candidates need to know where they are going. When you have a prepared candidate who knows where they are going and why they are leaving, it is a great experience for them. But then we have candidates who categorically say: ‘Find me a job that comes with a room and accommodation.’ You immediately know that they cannot even find a room for themselves. These are people who are not ready to leave because they cannot cope, they are afraid and they have the greatest difficulty adjusting, even if you prepare them,” she said.

As an example, she cited work in fast-food chains, where employees perform clearly defined tasks and cannot expect the position to differ from the job for which they were hired. She stressed that candidates needed to understand what a job involved before leaving and should not base their expectations solely on other people’s experiences.

“The job at McDonald’s is what it is; you cannot expect something else. You will work at the register, in the kitchen or in the lobby, and you will speak as much German as you need to get by at the beginning. Those are the jobs. Some people are not prepared. They hear other people’s stories about how they managed, instead of focusing on themselves and what they can and know how to do—and they can do a great deal. Sometimes they end up disappointed. Otherwise, most experiences are positive,” Bozinovska said.

Speaking about interest in moving to Germany for work this year, she said that demand remained, although the volume of business for employment agencies had declined over the past two years. She cited Germany’s economic situation as one of the reasons, explaining that German workers were now given priority in recruitment.

“There is still interest. Over the past two years, our business has also declined significantly because, amid these economic crises, Germans are now considered first, then us, and we go there to do the jobs Germans do not want to do. Naturally, our business has declined as well, but it is not drastic. Now we too can tap into the market and secure many more job opportunities,” she said.

Bozinovska added that it was important to carefully select the jobs to which candidates were referred. As an example, she cited work at Amazon distribution centers, which attracts interest among people from the Balkans but which, in her assessment, could be extremely demanding because of the large number of packages workers were required to process and carry each day.

“Many candidates like the idea of working for Amazon. Here in the Balkans, there is this notion that you are qualified if you have a driver’s license, so they say: ‘I have a Category B license, I’ll work at Amazon.’ But those are the worst jobs. The workload is very heavy, and workers carry a huge number of packages during the day. We can offer them that kind of work, but we avoid doing so. We try to send people to places where we know they will have stable employment,” Bozinovska concluded.

Germany has announced that, as of January 1, 2027, it will halve the annual quota for workers from the Western Balkans, from the current 50,000 to 25,000. The measure applies to Serbia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Albania.