Doctors and nurses leave the country, VOA: Albania in difficulty for qualified workforce

In Albania, the rapid development of the tourism and construction sectors in recent years has highlighted the need for more specialists and qualified employees to respond to these rates.

Currently, in 11 centers of the country, there are 37 public vocational schools with 23 courses, attended by about 18,300 students. The director of the vocational school "Hamdi Bushati" in Shkodër, Merita Zeneli, says that from year to year the school has been adapting to the needs of the labor market.

"The directions that have been chosen have been brought under the market's demands. The most demanded directions today are hospitality-tourism and economy-business. Hospitality-tourism because it is much broader and services that are constantly more in demand. But the economy-business is not left behind either, because the students, after finishing high school, have good opportunities to continue to high school as well", she says.

In the "Hamdi Bushati" vocational secondary school, about 700 students study in the fields of hospitality-tourism, economy-business and textile-confections. In addition to internships within the school, they regularly carry out teaching internships at businesses in the area.

Every year, about 150 students graduate from this school, in its three branches as secondary technicians, but not all of them are included in the local labor market, as some of them leave looking for work in Europe, where the diploma of theirs.

"We see that every day more and more labor force is needed, but the moment we have a qualified student, i.e. a qualified worker and a good salary, then the jobs will come. We noticed that about 73% of students were employed after finishing school and this is a good indicator. While less than 10% have left abroad", says the director of the professional school "Hamdi Bushati" in Shkodër, Merita Zeneli.

In Albania, the tourism sector has moved faster than the preparation of specialists and qualified employees. Professor Mirjam Dibra, who heads the tourism department at the University of Shkodra, says that this was the reason for opening the tourism department, where students, even through professional practices inside and outside the country, are trained to work and manage the tourism sector.

“Përveç praktikës, si pjesë e kurikulave, studentët kanë mundësi që të zhvillojnë edhe praktika në Gjermani, Itali. Po kështu, vazhdojmë të punojmë për praktikë një vjeçare në Amerikë, ku janë dërguar tre grupe studentësh, 14 gjithsej, dhe shpresojmë që puna e mirë që po bëjnë të hapë rrugë për studentët e tjerë. Por, kërkoj nga bizneset turistike të vlerësojnë shumë këtë kontigjent që vjen aq i përgatitur nga puna në resortet prestigjoze amerikane”, thotë profesoreshë Mirjam Dibra.

Vitet e fundit, nga Shqipëria largohen drejt emigracionit rreth 40 mijë persona në vit, pjesa më e madhe në moshë të re, disa të sapodiplomuar për mjekësi, infermieri, apo në degën e turizmit.

Profesoreshë Dibra thotë se, është e nevojshme që biznesi turistik, në kushtet kur është i etur për punonjës të kualifikuar, t’i motivojë specialistët e rinj të sapodiplomuar dhe t’i vlerësojë me pagë dinjitoze, që ata të shërbejnë brenda vendit.

“Në këtë moment, kur paga minimale e punës është rritur dhe bizneset turistike janë të etur për fuqi punëtore, them se të rinjtë mund ta gjejnë shumë më mirë veten e tyre në industrinë turistike tonën, e cila tashmë ka filluar të piqet dhe të kuptojë se sa e rëndësishme është fuqia punëtore e kualifikuar. Kështu që, mendoj se është një etapë kthese në historinë e zhvillimit të industrisë turistike në Shqipëri përsa i përket vlerësimit të fuqisë punëtore”, thotë ajo.

While in Albania, from year to year, the demand for tourist services is growing rapidly, a survey by the United Nations Development Program, UNDP, conducted in the fall of 2022 in hotel businesses, has concluded that 56% have felt the lack of manpower and that, at the peak of the summer tourist season, most of them worked with deficiencies in their staffs./VOA