The Independent Trade Unions of Kosovo consider that the lack of manpower has begun to be clearly felt in the country. They appeal for better working conditions and dignified treatment of workers, as they consider that not only wages are the reason for workers’ flight. While the Chamber of Trade and Industry Kosovo says that it has taken several steps to prevent the flight of the workforce from the country, enabling young people to enter the labor market and businesses.
The Chairman of the Independent Union of the Private Sector, Jusuf Azemi, warns of a great shock of the lack of labor force, which, according to him, it will start to be felt already in the spring.
Azemi for KosovaPress has mentioned several factors that affect the flight of the workforce from the country.
“Based on the data we have, a big shock of the labor shortage will be in the spring, since many jobs, the outdoor facilities have been stopped and those workers are working in indoor facilities where the conditions are created. At the moment when the spring season will begin, it will be seen that it will really be the biggest blow to Kosovo due to the lack of workers in the private sectors of Kosovo. It’s not always just the salary that determines staying or leaving Kosovo, but it’s the Law on Safety and Health at Work and other laws that deal with Kosovo’s private sector workers,” says Azemi.
The chairman of the Union of Independent Trade Unions of Kosovo, Atdhe Hykolli, says that the lack of manpower is already being felt.
Hykolli tells KosovaPress that they have submitted requests to employers to treat their employees in a dignified manner, as according to him, in this way, the flight of the workforce from the country can be stopped.
“There is a shortage of workers in Kosovo. We, as Union, have long raised the issue of employers’ awareness of the preservation of Kosovo’s employees, so we have asked employers to treat employees in a dignified manner, to have a dignified salary, but in addition to that to have a good behavior in relation to the employees… When the employers do not respect their workers, then they flee from the workplaces… If the employers would treat their employees with dignity, then I believe that most of the workers would not need to leave Kosovo”, says Hykolli.
And in terms of improving the conditions and preventing the flight of the workforce, the Chamber of Trade and Industry Kosovo has taken several steps.
Fjolla Smaili-Azemi from this Chamber says that in this direction they have signed memorandums of cooperation with universities. According to her, this initiative serves to become a bridge between the university and member businesses in order for both parties to benefit from such cooperation.
“As a chamber of trade and industry, we have signed several memoranda of cooperation, mainly with the University of Prishtina and with specific faculties within the latter, with the sole purpose of providing business with workforce in some form, but at the same time many students who graduate in different fields and departments have the opportunity to join the labor market before completing their studies. Such an initiative has also had positive results, because we are aware from practice that we have many students who graduate and unfortunately are forced to work in other jobs or professions that do not correspond their field of study at all”, says Azemi.
Azemi says that one of the main reasons that many young men and women are fleeing the country must be the better working conditions and a better salary for them, in European countries, compared to Kosovo.
