Lithuania eyes labor force in Belarus, Ukraine
Despite a good pay (Eur580 for milkmaids and Eur1160 for tractor drivers), few want to work in a Lithuanian village. According to Brjunjus Markavskas, the chairman of the Lithuanian Chamber of Agriculture, only 99 out of 368 young specialists went to work in rural areas this year. The rest fled to West European countries where a milkmaid gets an average of Eur2000 per month. The Lithuanian officials now think how to invite specialists from the neighboring countries and are ready to amend immigration laws.
“We have the list of jobs that are understaffed in Lithuania. But it includes neither tractor drivers nor milkmaids, because our employment centers do not have exact information how many professionals are needed. Therefore, the first step is to enter these jobs into this list. There is another option. We are going to go to Ukraine and invite their farmers for training in Lithuania”, Markavskavs says.
After hearing about this situation in Lithuania from the European Radio for Belarus, Alena Kotava, a milkmaid from the Belarusian farm Pastavichy in Staryja Darohi district, was ready to take off to Lithuania immediately. She first asked us to convert Eur580 into the Belarusian currency and then noted:
“I would work day and night for Br1.5 million, because in the summer season I make a net sum of Br380,000 and Br130,000-170,000 in winter”.
Despite the low pay, there is no deficit of milkmaids in Belarus. At the same time, young specialists don’t hurry to work in rural areas. The secretary to the director of the Slutsk-based Agricultural Professional Lyceum told the European Radio for Belarus that their graduates would be usually assigned to collective farms only. A young man can be left to work in town as a canteen chef.
“We recruit children after 9 grades in a secondary school. Here, they finish their secondary education and get a professional training in three jobs: milking, plant-growing and a chef,” she said.
But there are milkmaids who cannot be bought by the Lithuanian pay. At the Alexandria farm in the home village of the president, officials told our radio that their farm was a special one. That’s why their salaries were special, too. A milkmaid gets Br860,000 and a tractor driver makes Br825,000 per month.
