site.btaBusiness Consultant Comments on Wage Growth, Labour Shortages

In a BTA interview, Lidiya Shuleva, managing partner of the consulting company Business Intellect and member of the Board of the Council of Women in Business in Bulgaria, said that labour shortages and workers’ demand for higher wages can be addressed by increasing competitiveness of companies and managing well labour migration. Shuleva was approached to comment on Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Tsvetan Simeonov’s statement that merely raising wages due to labour shortages does not foster sustainable economic growth.

"The competitiveness of companies must be increased, which will also enable wages to rise. The other approach is well-managed migration, to seek foreign workers for the vacancies that are unattractive to Bulgarians," she said.

Shuleva noted that these are the two ways that will allow wages to grow and enable companies to perform better. She added that competitiveness can be increased through EU funds, noting that the resources should be invested in machinery, equipment, and new technologies.

Wages and economy

The growth of the economy depends on whether companies make profits and whether they pay taxes, Shuleva said.

"If we endlessly increase wages, there is no way companies will survive and the economy will grow," she added. 

In her words, wage growth is determined on a case-by-case basis and depends on a given company’s ability to raise wages without this affecting its bottom line.

Labour shortage

As to the labour shortage in certain sectors, Shuleva said that this phenomenon was very pronounced in Western Europe years ago.

There were no candidates for unattractive jobs, and countries threw their doors open to workers from Eastern Europe. "The same is happening in Bulgaria now," Shuleva said. She added that the government must focus on supporting businesses, especially in terms of the fight against corruption and managing labour migration.

Shuleva believes that there is a positive trend of expatriate workers returning to Bulgaria.

The wages in this country are currently relatively high, she said, adding that in some cases they are even higher than those in neighbouring countries where Bulgarian expats have chosen to earn their living.