Author: Aurora Shpataj
At a time when our country is increasingly being abandoned by a large part of the citizens, the one that is suffering the most from this phenomenon is the tourism sector. In a report by the Institute of Statistics, the number of immigrants for 2022 was 46 people. Faced with the fact that the main workforce has left the country, this sector seems to be in total collapse, on the eve of the start of the tourist season. Different hotel-tourism structures and other Services belonging to this sector are encountering many difficulties in terms of the lack of labor, forcing them to look elsewhere for a solution. Managers of many businesses have been forced to hire foreign nationals from countries such as: Bangladesh, Sri Lanka or even Turkey, etc. One of the businesses that has faced this phenomenon during the tourist season is the "Fafa" complex, located in Golem, specifically in Malin e Robit. The entrepreneur, Fatos Cerenishti, tells "Sinjalizo" that the lack of young Albanians has forced him to order labor from foreign countries.
" It is known that when we talk about the tourism sector, the part of the workers is the most important, the most important voice in this sector, because if we are going to talk about hospitality and service, everything is done by the workers. We have tried to fill many of the problems that we have encountered due to the lack of Albanian workers with foreigners."
The entrepreneur says that several foreign employees, who have come from different countries, work in his complex.
" In the complex I run, I have 40 foreign employees, who have come from Turkey or Bali ."
Cerenishti says that the lack of local labor has forced him to order workers through Albanian employment agencies, at a time when the need for workers is greater than ever.
" This year I have requested over 100 foreign workers from employment agencies, and this week I expect the first ten to arrive ."
Meanwhile, one of the foreign nationals who has chosen Albania to work is Chamik Hetirachi or otherwise called Nish. She comes from Sri Lanka and specializes as a physiotherapist. Nis tells 'Signalizo' the way of arrival in our country.
" I came to Albania through an agency after they looked at my CV. I paid $10 to come here. I didn't know the country, I came here because there were job vacancies ."
She says that during 1 year in Albania she worked in several hotels in Durrës.
" I worked in two hotels in Durrës where I provided my Services. There I was paid $600 with food and accommodation included."
From the data available to "Sinjalizo", 2023 foreign citizens have entered the Albanian territory for the period January-April 1.684.820. European citizens have the highest number of entries, namely 1.626.852 citizens, followed by America and East Asia.
Sources told "Sinjalizo" that for the four months of 2023, 1.646.725 foreign citizens had personal goals, 38.095 citizens had business and professional goals, while 80.273 foreign citizens were transit travelers.
Proposal from entrepreneurs: Students finish the academic year in June
Entrepreneur Cerenishti shows that the solution cannot be foreign labor. Meanwhile, he confesses that he has not missed bad experiences with foreign employees.
" Last year I tried with an employment agency from Bangladesh which brought in employees but they didn't do well, the latter left without seeing them at work. Even now I say that anyone who comes to me from the Bangladeshi market, even the best specialists, are unacceptable, because they use Albania as a springboard to other countries ."
The lack of qualification of foreign nationals is confirmed by Kumrie Zika, an employment expert, at the same time and owner of an Albanian employment agency for foreigners, who affirms for "Sinjalizo" that the workforce that comes from abroad is mostly unqualified.
" Most of the workers who have chosen to come to Albania are the category of unskilled workers, the qualified ones are few in number. We have them in the construction field, from simple workers to specialists, i.e. construction masters. We have them in tailoring, mainly from Bangladesh who are known for textiles, we have them from Sri Lanka who have recently become physiotherapists and in the field of agriculture ."
The owner of the "Fafa" complex concludes by indicating that a proposal has been offered to the relevant authorities for the resolution of this crisis.
" One of our proposals was that we could cover the gap in employees, fill it with high school students and university students, which is an army, I think, of over 200 thousand. If the government decides not to start university in October or November, but to start on September 15 for both high schools and universities and end on June 15. They should make a tight schedule, because it is a hassle, since the government's priority is the development of tourism, then they should sacrifice this army to be part of the tourism sector for 4 months ."
