342 manufacturing companies in Lithuania have hired 5,334 workers from 76 countries this year, bringing the number of foreigners working in the industry to 14,871, or 1.5 times higher. This was reported by the vz.lt business news website on Monday.
Lithuania’s Employment Service says that 1,884 manufacturing companies were employing foreigners on October 1, up 22.8% on the year from 1,502.
The largest share of workers – 713 – work for Verslo Krantas, which is a ship repair company. Biovela-Utenos Mesa, a meat processing company, has 556 such employees, PCK Group Lithuania, an electrical equipment maker, has 535, and Danes Perlas and Mabrocona, both of which repair ships, have 427 and 352 respectively.
The food industry currently employs 2,646 foreign nationals, 2,112 work in the metal industry, and 1,605 are employed by other manufacturing companies in areas such as jewellery, mattresses, furniture, etc.
The director of the Employment Service, Inga Balnanosiene, says that foreign nationals are helping to reduce job shortages throughout Europe, as a shortage of workers has been a real problem in many places.
Source: BNS
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