The recruitment of third-country nationals should be tightened to attract more workers with higher added value, Deputy Minister of Social Security and Labour Vytautas Šilinskas has said after the interior minister’s comment this week that the growing inflow of third-country nationals coming to Lithuania to work poses a threat to national security.
“We are in favour of tighter requirement, as we need more investment in automation, to move towards competition on quality rather than cheaper products, and this does not require cheap labour, it requires a skilled, highly-qualified workforce,” Šilinskas told the LRT RADIO on Wednesday.
The Interior Ministry vows to propose stepping up controls on the employment of foreigners and their employers’ activities in Lithuania, as well as to tax mediation letters for companies that invite foreigners to work.
According to Deputy Interior Minister Arnoldas Abramavičius, the changes must take into account threats to national security and the interests of politicians, businesses, and workers.
“We want to focus specifically on the national security component. Of course, migration needs to be legal to maintain the economy. [...] We have to take a balanced stance with the business world, taking into account the situation of trade unions, workers, and also the situation of those third-country workers so that they do not become slaves,” he said.
The proposals to change the employment procedure and promote integration include the proposal to require newcomers to learn the Lithuanian language to a certain level and to refrain from changing jobs for six months.
Audrius Cuzanauskas, who leads the Trade Union Alliance, says the existing procedure needs to be changed because it lacks control and, as a result, a lot of unqualified labour force is being brought into the country by falsified documents.
The growing inflow of foreigners coming to Lithuania for work is a threat to Lithuania’s security, Interior Minister Agnė Bilotaitė said on Monday, adding that newcomers are being used as a cover by the intelligence services of hostile countries.
According to the Interior Ministry, some 50,000 foreigners have come to work in Lithuania this year. These are mainly citizens of Belarus, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, and Kyrgyzstan. The number of foreigners coming from Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan is also increasing.
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