Most foreign workers in Croatia are employed in transportation and hospitality.

A survey conducted by the Institute for Migration Research was conducted on 400 foreign workers.

Author  HrTurizam.hr

January 15, 2025

The Migration Research Institute conducted a survey between November 23, 2024 and January 12, 2025, covering 400 foreign workers originating from Asia and Africa, with the aim of gaining insight into their opinions about life and work in Croatia, reports tportal.

The largest number of surveyed participants comes from Filipina (38 percent), Nepal (26 percent), India (20 percent), Egypt (6 percent) and Bangladesh (5 percent). Other respondents came from Syria, Iraq, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, China and Uganda.

Prema to the Institute, the majority of foreign workers surveyed work in transportation (22 percent), hospitality (19 percent), construction (17 percent) and industry (13 percent).

As for acquaintance Croatian language, 53 percent of foreign workers said they did not speak Croatian, but understood basic words. 21 percent of them said they spoke Croatian at a basic level, 18 percent said they did not speak Croatian at all, while 8 percent said they spoke Croatian fluently.

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More than half of the respondents (51 percent) have been living in Croatia for less than a year. About 34 percent have been living in Croatia for between 1 and 2 years, 5 percent between 3 and 5 years, while 9,5 percent said they have been living in Croatia for longer than 5 years, the survey found.

As many as 78,5 percent of foreign workers in Croatia work in full-timeAlso, almost 90 percent of foreign workers said they financially support their families in the countries from which they immigrated to Croatia.

Furthermore, 55 percent of foreign workers plan to move their family to Croatia, while around 28 percent are undecided on the issue, 10 percent of respondents said they would not move their family, and 5 percent stated that they do not have a family.

Family trip pixabay
Photo: Pixabay

The largest number of foreign workers (32,8 percent) intend to stay in Croatia for up to 5 years. Around 23,5 percent want to stay between 6 and 10 years, 20,5 percent plan to stay until retirement, and 19,5 percent said they want to stay in Croatia for the rest of their lives.

The results of the survey show that a relatively larger number of foreign workers from Asia are generally satisfied with life and work in Croatia.

Over 206 thousand work permits

By the end of December last year, Croatia had issued a record 206.529 residence and work permits to foreign workers. This marked the first time we had exceeded 2021 since labor import quotas were abolished in 200.

Data from the Ministry of the Interior show that last year, as in previous years, the highest number of work permits were issued in the construction sector (75.071) and tourism and hospitality (56.228)

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In industry, 28.486 residence and work permits were issued to foreign workers, in transport and communications 16.149, in trade 7925, writes Dijana Jurasić for Vecernji list.

The largest number of work permits were issued to citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina (38.100), Nepal (35.635), Serbia (27.988), India (20.502), the Philippines (14.680), North Macedonia (13.855), Bangladesh (13.630), Kosovo (8139), Uzbekistan (6959) and Egypt (6672).

Compared to 2023, when more than 172 thousand residence and work permits were issued to third-country nationals, their number increased by 34 thousand last year.

Photo: stock photography
Photo: stock photography

Of the total number of residence and work permits issued for new employment of foreign workers, 132.208 permits were issued, 56.898 work permits were extended, and another 17.423 permits were issued for seasonal workers, most of which were in the tourism and hospitality industry (15.893).

Most work permits were issued last year in the area of ​​the Police Administration Zagreb, which covers the City of Zagreb and Zagreb County (45.119), then in the area of ​​the Istrian Police Department (28.660) and the Split-Dalmatia Police Department (22.584).

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Negative attitudes

In Croatia, compared to the time after the migrant wave of 2015 and 2016, the number of citizens who do not support the arrival of foreigners in Croatia has increased, while at the same time the majority believes that we need foreign labor.

The most negative The attitude towards foreigners is the same among Zagreb residents, and the largest share of Croatian citizens see Arabs as a threat, research has shown. Center for Peace Studies.

The results of the research 'Attitudes towards foreigners and minorities in Croatian society in 2024: Threat, encounter and coexistence' were recently presented, showing how the attitudes of Croatian citizens towards foreigners have changed compared to 2013 and 2017, when similar research was conducted.

The research showed a visible trend of declining support rights of foreign immigrants. Only a third (34 percent) of citizens believe that foreigners living and working in Croatia should have the right to have their families move to Croatia.

The lowest level of support, the results show, is at the level of political rights of foreigners (freedom of speech, public speaking, and voting).

Pexels cottonbro 6466496
Photo: Pexels - cottonbro

As many as 53 percent of Croatians do not support the arrival of foreigners, and 59 percent of them believe that they lower their labor costAt the same time, 55 percent still believe that we need them economically to fill those jobs that have become unattractive to domestic workers.

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We also have a somewhat paradoxical situation regarding attitudes about state interventionism. On the one hand, the survey showed a high level of agreement with the claims that the state should punish both employers and landlords who exploit and exploit foreign workers, and on the other hand, a large support for sending the army and placing razor wire on the borders, as well as pushback, is visible.

Fear of impact on culture

What could have been expected was that older people (aged 60 and over) had somewhat more negative attitudes towards foreigners, as did those with a lower level of education, lower total household income, and lower than average standards of living.

Residents from rural areas had only a slightly more negative attitude towards foreigners than those in urban areas, but it was by no means a significant difference, the authors emphasize.

Attitudes towards foreigners are expected when it comes to creed and political affiliation. Catholics thus have more rigid attitudes towards them compared to atheists and agnostics, as do those on the right side of the political spectrum compared to those on the left.

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But what is surprising is that in 2024, women have a slightly more negative attitude towards foreigners than men, and that, from a regional perspective, the most negative attitude is held by residents of Zagreb and the surrounding area, while so far, Dalmatians have been the most negative towards foreigners.

It is also important to emphasize that Croats are more afraid of the influence of foreigners on their culture than they fear for their safety and the safety of their property, conveys tportal.

The number of people who believe that foreigners should not show cultural and religious characteristics has increased, but still 58 percent of citizens believe that they should retain their original culture.

This indicates that the majority of Croats consider it preferable integration model arrangements of differences arising from some cultural, religious and ethnic peculiarities in relation to separation.

A positive indicator is that at least half of the citizens believe that none of the groups included in the research pose any threat to them.

The survey was conducted for the Center for Peace Studies by the IPSOS agency during August 2024 on a representative sample of 978 adult respondents.

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Cover photo: PxHere

Author  HrTurizam.hr

January 15, 2025