Young people leaving Kosovo in large numbers, job vacancies filled by foreign nationals

The labor market in Kosovo is facing a shortage of workforce due to the departure of young people, and vacant job positions are being filled by foreign nationals, according to research by the Kosovo Business Alliance, as reported by Telegrafi.

The President of the Kosovo Business Alliance, Agim Shahini, emphasizes that over 500 workers have come from Bangladesh and India, and this trend is on the rise.
According to him, in the long run, employing foreign workers is a poor choice.

"This puts us at risk of a change in Kosovo's population demographics in the future because our young people are going to Europe while vacant positions are being filled by citizens of Asian countries," Shahini said.

University professor Muhamet Mustafa states that the private sector has stagnated in terms of wages and is not an attractive place for employment, citing it as the reason many citizens are leaving Kosovo.

"Until the labor market is regulated, until there is a balance between supply and demand, and until hospitals, the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Education, as well as the private sector, are compelled to raise wages, nothing will change," Mustafa said.

According to data from the Kosovo Agency of Statistics for 2022, out of 38.6% of the active population, 12.6% are unemployed.

In just the first six months of this year, over 1,500 people have renounced their Kosovo passports, as indicated by data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs.