Croatia, Czech Republic new targets for recruiters

Linda West figures she might have found a new frontier in skilled labour recruiting: Croatia and the Czech Republic.

The president of the Regina-based Actyl Group human resources firm likes the two central European republics for a lot of reasons.

First, the two members of the European Union are “visa-free” countries in the eyes of Canadian immigration authorities. That means candidates can get work permits at the Canadian border or an international airport without having to wait for embassy approval. That makes immigration easier and gets them to employers faster — particularly important to Saskatchewan employers who’d like to have new employees start this spring.

As well, West — a veteran of many recruiting trips — said knowledge of English is high and educational standards are good among young Czechs and Croatians.

And then there’s the best motivator: They have tepid economies with youth unemployment running between 40 and 45 per cent in the Czech Republic and even higher in Croatia. And the minimum wages in the countries are around the equivalent of $3.50 per hour.

West’s planned recruiting trip in March will be her first to Prague, but one she took last autumn to Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, was an “extremely good experience,” she said.

Of the Croatian workers recruited on it, “I can tell you that employers really are appreciating their work ethic,” said West, who added that while there are relatively few Croats in Saskatchewan, “there are starting to be quite a few — and the people who have settled are starting to settle well.”

And what about the bracing climate of Saskatchewan? Both Croatia and the Czech Republic — it separated from the Slovakia in 1993 — have cool weather, “but not winters like ours,” she said.

Noting that another Saskatchewan recruiting mission will head to Ireland soon, West said “you can’t beat Ireland” for its education and apprenticeship programs. But she also suspects there’s so much foreign interest in talented Irish workers in the wake of the country’s well publicized economic problems that the supply of potential recruits has been “heavily tapped,” and some of the skills and trades Canadian employers are seeking have been picked over.

“You start not seeing the skills sets that you need to see,” she said.

As well, so many Canadian and Australian recruiters are heading for Ireland that a worker with a special skill — a heavy-duty mechanic, for example — can pick and choose their job offers.

So some recruiters like West do plenty of work, she said, “and then somebody else gets the employee.”