The departure of the able-bodied population is causing the local business in the Gjirokastra District to face difficulties in securing the labor force.

About 400 large and medium-sized businesses are registered with the Regional Chamber of Commerce in Gjirokastra, which are currently facing problems finding labor. In this situation, some businesses have tried to bring labor force from abroad.

“The district of Gjirokastra has many departures of the working age and almost all businesses have encountered this problem. Most of the manufacturing businesses located in the municipality of Dropulli have solved it in some way by hiring foreign labor force from abroad, through contracts with employment agencies. Even tourism has had that problem, however, for this year this part of employment was almost passed, but that problem continues”, says Maksim Hoxha, president of the Gjirokastër Regional Chamber of Commerce.

The most affected by the lack of labor force are tourism and fashion. These two sectors face problems for the insurance of employees also because of the financial difficulties brought about by the fall of the euro in the currency exchange rate.

“Problem of fashion factories, it is known that in Gjirokastra District there are more than 10 fashion factories that are working which with the exchange rate have suffered a heavy blow because it is known that they pay the labor arm. Although the working conditions in these factories have increased significantly for the employees, both in wages and in working conditions based on the labor code and legislation, however, the impact of the euro exchange rate has brought a problem for these”, says Hoxha.

About 2,400 manufacturing and commercial businesses operate in the Gjirokastra District, which have a significant number of employees who provide monthly income for families.