Just 14 per cent of SMEs manage to attract non‑EU workers; the rest don’t know where to start

Brussels – Non-EU workers and staff? A real headache for businesses. Faced with language barriers, hard-to-find skills, and excessive paperwork, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) hire very few non-EU nationals. This is the finding of the Eurobarometer special survey published today (1 June). The result is a barrier to recruitment that “remains very limited,” despite the EU having, for years, made it easier for highly skilled workers from third countries to enter the EU. 

Over the past two years, one in seven SMEs has attempted to recruit workers from outside the European Union, and among those companies that ultimately succeeded (14 per cent), almost half (54 per cent) described the recruitment process as “difficult.” The complexity of administrative and immigration procedures is the most frequently cited obstacle (31 per cent), followed by the difficulty of finding suitable candidates (25 per cent), and overcoming language barriers (24 per cent). 

In this particular context, Italy has little to contribute to the survey, as two in three companies (66 per cent) state that they have not taken on any new staff in the last two years, and so the question regarding the difficulty or ease of finding non-EU workers is deemed “not relevant.” However, Italy also appears to confirm the general difficulty reported, as just 3 per cent of respondents say they found it “extremely easy” to recruit non-EU staff, compared with 11 per cent who say it was “extremely difficult,” and a further 10 per cent who say it was “rather difficult.”

However, one aspect stands out: Among SMEs, awareness of public incentives and support services for hiring international staff “is limited.” In fact, at the EU level, 61 per cent of businesses admit that such incentives and services are “completely unfamiliar” to them. Added to this are 18 per cent of businesses that say they are “not very familiar” with schemes supporting foreign employment, meaning that across the EU, 79 per cent of SMEs are unable to operate as effectively as they could.  At the national level, Italy stands at 69 per cent, split between those who are completely unaware (47 per cent) and those who have little knowledge (22 per cent). 

These figures indicate that ” we need to simplify and speed up procedures through digitalisation, less red tape, and smoother transitions from study to work or entrepreneurship,” the Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner, said. “This will ensure that more skilled talent chooses Europe.” 

Roxana Minzatu, Executive Vice-President for Social Rights and Quality Employment, promises a change of direction. “By empowering SMEs with the right information and support channels, we can facilitate the hiring of skilled foreign workers to mitigate labour and skills shortages in the EU.” This is imperative, as “SMEs are vital to the EU economy, representing about 99 per cent of enterprises,” she added.