The Burgas Chamber of Commerce and Industry has produced a methodology, a handbook and a digital platform to help Bulgarian employers hire workers from outside the EU.
The tools are part of the project "Functionally Sustainable Migration and Integration in Bulgaria" (FUMI in Bulgaria), which the chamber runs with the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Executive Development (CEED Bulgaria). The EU's Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund pays for the project, and the Interior Ministry supports it.
The methodology aims to cut red tape when firms hire workers from non-EU countries. The handbook tells employers how to go about it. The platform, called BGJobsPortal, gathers information on labour mobility and shows firms what the procedures are.
The chamber says one of the main problems for Bulgarian firms is a lack of skilled workers, along with a need for better ways to bring in staff from abroad. It believes reliable information and better co-ordination between employers and institutions are key to making hiring easier.
The project also includes studies of the needs and views of employers and of citizens of non-EU countries.