Companies can still use financial incentives to attract talent from abroad
Companies operating in our country can still benefit from financial incentives to attract highly skilled professionals from abroad, including talent of Lithuanian origin, until the end of this year. Since the start of the programme in 2022, almost €2.8 million in financial incentives have already been granted to highly qualified foreigners and employers who recruit them.
"The supply of talent is a question of Lithuania's competitiveness. To strengthen the country's talent ecosystem, we have initiated a number of measures, including financial incentives for highly skilled foreign professionals and employers recruiting them. Together with the Diaspora-Friendly Employer initiative, this measure also contributes to attracting Lithuanian talent from abroad," said Aušrinė Armonaitė, Minister of the Economy and Innovation.
As Lithuania seeks to increase the share of high value-added activities in its economic structure, the supply of talent is becoming a key issue. In order to ensure that we attract them to our country, the Ministry continuously assesses the skills shortage.
"Talent development, attraction and retention policies are crucial for the development of businesses in high value-added sectors - from information technology to life sciences. Taking into account market trends, we have drawn up a list of priority professions in these sectors and invite companies to use the funds to attract the necessary specialists from abroad," said Neringa Morozaitė-Rasmussen, Vice-Minister of the Economy and Innovation.
According to the list of high value-added professions prepared by the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation, the professions with the highest number of beneficiaries are computer systems analyst, software engineer, computer systems engineer, computer programmer, software tester, technical manager and production engineer.
To qualify for the financial support, the employer must have an open-ended employment contract and the job of the newcomer must be on the list of high value-added occupations in short supply in Lithuania.
Companies can use the funds until the end of this year to attract highly qualified specialists from abroad.
The Employment Service administers this measure of the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation. Read more about the conditions here.
So far this year, financial incentives have been granted to 178 highly qualified foreign professionals and 53 employers who hired them.
According to the IMD World Talent Report by the Swiss Institute of Management, which measures how countries develop, attract and retain highly skilled professionals, Lithuania ranks 23rd out of 67 countries assessed.