Due to the malfunctioning of the scheme for foreign workers, as many of them use Albania as a transit country to Europe, businesses in various sectors have been forced to approximate salaries for similar professions to EU levels.
About 2 years ago, finding truck drivers was one of the most acute problems in the freight transport sector. To fill the labor gap, some companies started hiring foreign nationals from Egypt, while locals emigrated to the EU, especially to Germany for salaries over 2 thousand euros.
In order to solve the problem, trucking operators have been forced to increase salaries by 30 to 50% for truck drivers over the last 2 years.
Rodolf Xhillari from the company "Balkan Trans Albania" said that drivers' salaries range from 2,000 to 2,500 euros per month.
"In the last 2 years, the salaries of employees in the transport sector, including truck drivers and administration, have increased by 30 to 50%. The increase was necessary in order to curb emigration, as many employees were emigrating abroad for higher salaries. Meanwhile, hiring foreigners was not working, as many of them were using Albania as a springboard to emigrate to Europe," he said.
According to data from the Economic Research Institute, in Germany the average salary for truck drivers reaches up to 4 thousand euros per month. In Italy the average salary for truck drivers reaches 3 thousand euros per month. In Greece the average salary reaches 2,100 euros per month. While in North Macedonia salaries range from 1,300 to 2,000 euros per month.
Two years ago, according to operator data, the minimum salary for truck drivers in Albania ranged from 500 to 600 euros, while the maximum ranged from 1,000-1,500 to 2,000 euros. Salaries for truck drivers in Europe start at 2,000 euros.
Rodolf Xhillari from the company "Balkan Trans Albania" previously claimed that the lack of manpower was causing 25 to 30% of vehicles to remain idle, as truck drivers were missing. Meanwhile, the successive increase in wages has increased costs for businesses.
Food import and distribution companies have also had difficulties finding truck drivers and support staff.
The problem is also present in passenger transport. The President of the National Association of Urban Transport, Kostandin Foni, previously stated that urban transport operators are facing difficulties in finding bus drivers for public lines in Tirana.
According to him, the only solution taken was to increase the salary. The average salary of a bus driver has reached 90 thousand per month, while that of a delivery driver is 75 thousand per month./ Monitor
