Background information

Slovenia has ratified two bilateral employment agreements: the first with Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2012, and the second with Serbia in 2019. As outlined in the preambles, the agreements stipulate a 'carefully planned migration policy'. In accordance with the agreements, the employment offices of Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, or Serbia, are responsible for the matching of employees and jobs. Following the successful matching of candidates and employers, the employment services complete the procedure. Moreover, Slovenia has ratified bilateral social security agreements with North Macedonia (2000), Bosnia and Herzegovina (2008), Serbia (2010), and Montenegro (2011). As the number of candidates from countries with which Slovenia had signed bilateral agreements and willing to work in Slovenia decreased, employers' organisations demanded the government to enter into an agreement with more countries. A new agreement was signed with the Philippines in March 2025.

Content of measure

The employment agreement between Slovenia and the Philippines was signed in March 2025, coinciding with the official opening of the Slovenian Embassy in Manila. On that same day, the Employment Service of Slovenia organized an employment event in cooperation with the Philippine Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) and the Slovenian Embassy. The objective of the event was to present an overview of life and work in Slovenia. The recruitment event brought together 23 employers from Slovenia. They were from the transport and storage, accommodation and catering, construction and manufacturing, health and social care, cleaning and motor vehicle repair sectors. According to a DMW representative, the initial recruitment will be focused on caregivers who have already undergone training in this profession at the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

Use of measure

The current population of Filipino workers in Slovenia is relatively small. The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) has sent 40 workers to Slovenia up to October 2024. In addition, approximately 400 Filipino workers are employed in Slovenia. The largest group of migrants originate from the former Yugoslav republics, notably Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Serbia and North Macedonia.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Migrants or refugees in employment	Does not apply to businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
National government	Companies National funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Consulted	Consulted
Form	Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies	Consultation through tripartite or bipartite social dialogue bodies

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Social partners jointly
• Main level of involvement: Peak or cross-sectoral level

Involvement

In the Economic and Social Council, the tripartite body, the social partners regularly discuss all legislation in the economic and social field. Labour migration and labour shortages are often on the negotiating table.

Views and reactions

In 2021, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia (Chamber of Commerce and Industry) formulated a series of measures to address labour shortages. The employer organization emphasised that a third of manufacturing companies and twenty per cent of service companies are facing labour shortages. The proposed measures included the extension of the list of deficit occupations, the introduction of a special fast-track procedure for the recruitment of high-value-added staff from abroad, measures to retain qualified staff in Slovenia and to encourage the return of experts to the country, new bilateral agreements with some of the countries of the former Yugoslavia, and the conclusion of a bilateral agreement with Ukraine and the Philippines.

Sources

• 21 October 2021: Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Slovenia, Staff shortages one of the key challenges in the Slovenian economy (Pomanjkanje zaposlenih eden ključnih izzivov v slovenskem gospodarstvu) (www.gzs.si)
• 11 March 2025: Slovenia signed agreement with the Philippines (Slovenija podpisala sporazum s Filipini) (forbes.n1info.si)