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Latvian welfare minister: Migrants may be needed in workforce

Latvian Welfare Minister Uldis Augulis has told the LETA News Agency that the government must think more about keeping local residents in the labour market for as long as possible, because the alternative will be to seek immigrants who can do the work instead.

Asked about Latvia’s immigration policy and about attracting migrant workers from abroad, the minister said that the labour market should primarily involve local human resources as much as possible, including people with disabilities.

“When it comes to attracting workers from abroad, we need to look at their skills. Do we need low-skilled migrant workers, or do we need workers with qualifications?”, the politician stated, adding that he had recently met with the Uzbek ambassador to Latvia to discuss ways of ensuring that people from third countries are not employed illegally.

Augulis also pointed to the fact that a substantial percentage of young people aged 15 to 25 are currently neither studying, nor working. The minister called for a further study of how many of these young people live outside of Latvia, how many have illegal jobs, and how many truly do have no job and no studies.

Minister Augulis believes that it is important to work on re-migration policies and to create favourable employment conditions for pensioners who want to keep working.

“Without labour, economic growth is impossible,” Augulis declared.

The minister refused to predict at this time whether local resources will be sufficient, saying that this will depend on economic growth and demographic trends. It is important to enhance productivity, ensure high-quality jobs and provide higher wages for workers, which would also mean more resources to finance the needs of society,” Augulis says.

The fundamental driving engines of productivity have not changed, the minister added. These are linked to investments in human capital, including investments to support employment among young people and pre-retirees.

Source: BNS

(Reproduction of BNS information in mass media and other websites without written consent of BNS is prohibited.)

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