 Part VII |
 |
| Questions 1-3 refer to the following article. |
Labor Shortages
Since the collapse of communism, it is jobs, not workers, that have been in short supply. But that is changing. Employers in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, where growth rates are over seven percent, now complain of labor shortages. Last month, Elcoteq, Estonia's best-known foreign investor, started bringing 150 workers from Narva to work at its big mobile phone plant in the capital city of Tallinn. When it opened in the early 1990s, would-be workers lined up overnight to apply.
Official unemployment is still around eight percent in all three countries. Some of the jobless, however, are not easily employable due to ailing health or old age. More importantly, many are working either illegally at home or elsewhere in Europe. In Poland, for example, political pundits saw no solution to its economic slump until the introduction of cheap Ukrainian laborers made it possible to sustain and increase economic output. Baltic workers are beginning to seek work in other European nations as immigration and job opportunities open up.
One possible solution to the Baltic region's labor shortage is to import extra workers from the surrounding region. Although controversial, making it easier for illegal immigrants to work legally will keep the Baltic economy afloat. |
|
|
|
|