In a country that for the first time this year records an increase in unemployment from Sunday to Sunday during the tourist season, as many as two thirds of seasonal workers come from abroad, from the countries of the region.
If you spend your summer on the Montenegrin coast, you will hardly meet a waiter like Aleksandar Pavićević. This young man from Pljevlja has been working for five years in one of the most luxurious hotels on the Montenegrin coast, in Budva. He is unusual because he is a Montenegrin citizen who works seasonally in Montenegro. "At the moment, it suits me that way, because I'm studying," he explains.
There were 30,5 thousand unemployed people in Montenegro last week, 1,2 percent more than last week. According to the report of the Employment Service, the unemployment rate is 13,14 percent.
When you ask the representatives of the Ministry of Labor and the Employment Office why more Montenegrins do not work seasonally, in an informal conversation they admit that they do not know, because analyzes related to this issue have never been done.
"Probably, the businessmen have already gained experience with people from the region and it is difficult now to replace people who you know are working well with new employees," guesses Assistant Minister of Labor Arijana Nikolić Vučinić. She also claims that the mobility of Montenegrin workers is low.
"I think the conditions they offer for seasonal workers are inadequate," says Aleksandar Pavićević, even though he has been working seasonally for years.
The representative of the national trade union organization, Zvonko Pavićević, thinks that one of the answers is laziness. Pavićević says that the Union of Free Trade Unions has never analyzed seasonal employment either, but he agrees with the representative of the ministry that seasonal jobs do not sufficiently motivate citizens from the north of the country to move to the south.
"These are places that are not so attractive for the citizens of Montenegro because it may or may not solve the issue of one or two months of work."
On the other hand, Pavićević thinks that it is enough for workers from the region to be at sea for a few months, and that it is less important to them how much they will earn. Jelena Simeunović confirms that Pavićević is somewhat correct. She has been coming from Belgrade for two years to work as a waitress in one of the hotels in Budva.
"I found the job quite by accident, and it's paying off, I've been at sea for three months and I'm having a great time."
The unemployed from Bijelo Polje do not believe in finding a job by chance. Raduša Vlaović regularly comes to register at the Employment Office. He says that everyone in the family is unemployed and would accept any job. He claims that no one has ever offered to work for them.
"2 sons, they are 25 years old, they are at the office, no one offers them a job, they keep calling, they keep talking, nothing of work."
Failed or successful national campaign?
Realizing how important it is that money from the season stays in the country, especially during the crisis, the Ministries of Tourism and Labor and Social Welfare support, and the Institute has been implementing the campaign "Let's employ ours in seasonal jobs" since the beginning of the year.
At the beginning of the campaign, the representatives of the institutions ambitiously said that in the season there are many places for young people, because 70 percent of the jobs that are wanted are auxiliary, and the rest are professional.
They insisted that employers have at their disposal a large potential of domestic workers: about 10.000 from the unemployment register, close to 8.000 high school graduates and about 25.000 students.
Although they themselves present the data that foreign and domestic seasons are 67 percent to 33 percent in favor of foreign workers this year, representatives of these institutions consider the campaign successful. The Ministry of Labor claims that this is confirmed by the fact that the number of seasonal workers from Montenegro has increased.
"Today, around 9 seasonal workers work in Montenegro, and last year there were around 8," says Arijana Nikolić Vučinić. Among these 9 thousand, she also counts young people, who are working seasonally for the first time. This year, almost 1.900 young people were employed by 550 employers. They received subsidies of 80 to 100 euros.
"We wanted to replace the employers' excuse that they will not hire people who do not have experience and to cover the training costs," explains the representative of the Employment Office, Đorđo Borović. Employers say that was not enough.
"These subsidies are a good initial step, however, in the long term, not much is achieved," says Budimir Raičković from the Union of Employers. "You need to have a plan - to say ok, they don't give subsidies, but for all young people, all employees, taxes and contributions cannot be over 50%."
That association opposes any restrictions on the employment of foreigners, at least when it comes to citizens of neighboring countries.
They employ foreigners illegally
The government did not only invite employers to hire domestic labor. By limiting the number of work permits to 16,5 thousand, she also tried to force them to do so. Last year, for the sake of comparison, 22 thousand permits were issued for foreigners.
They also said that domestic labor is cheaper for employers who regularly hire, because, as previously announced, for a salary of 300 euros, for example, the employer's obligation for a domestic worker is 408 euros, and for a foreigner up to 578 euros, because costs are added administrative fees and diploma certification.
However, fifteen days ago, without consulting the Social Council, i.e. unions and employers, the Government decided to increase the number of foreign permits by another three thousand. They explain that only those workers whose professions are in short supply on the Montenegrin labor market will be able to get these 'new' ones.
"Cooking is an occupation that is in short supply, it is a qualified occupation and people who ask for that permit will get it, however, on the other hand, an assistant cook will not be able to get such a permit," explains the Assistant Minister of Labor.
"We have top chefs or waiters, managers, who are local, and among the auxiliary workers on the beach, in the parking lot, we have a lot of foreigners,"
Seasonal employment in Montenegro is mostly in construction - 23 percent, tourism and catering - 20 percent, trade 16 percent. For next year, this ministry is announcing an even tougher system of issuing work permits for foreigners. Arijana Nikolić Vučinić announces:
"Work permits will be defined according to occupations. So, you will know exactly how many cooks will be able to get a work permit, how many housekeepers, etc. because that is how we will try to create jobs for which the citizens of Montenegro are capable of working."
The Employment Office admits that it is currently not possible to separate which jobs are held by foreigners and which domestic seasonal workers.
"We have top chefs or waiters, managers, who are local, and among the auxiliary workers on the beach, in the parking lot, we have a lot of foreigners," says Đorđo Borović from the Employment Office, who previously only analyzed the needs of employers during the season.
"Employers try to provide their guests with the best possible service, that's why they choose those they think will give them the best contribution when hiring. Of course, there is still a prejudice that our people won't or can't do some jobs well."
Limiting the number of permits for foreigners will not mean much to domestic workers who would work seasonally, the representative of the Union of Free Trade Unions is convinced.
Zvonko Pavićević says that employers will continue to employ foreigners, as before, in much larger numbers.
"Most of them do not even get insurance, they work illegally, they are not even provided with the minimum. I have information that for those few months they live in extremely bad conditions. People from the surrounding area are ready to sacrifice a lot in order to earn anything," claims Pavićević.
In July of this year, unemployment in Montenegro was 5 percent higher than in the same period last year.
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