site.btaStudy Calls for Lower Quotas on Foreign Workers to Protect Local Jobs

One of the conclusions of a new labour market study prepared by economist Georgi Vuldzhev from the Experts Club for Economics and Politics and released on Tuesday is that quotas for the importation of workers from third countries should be reduced to 10% of the average workforce for large enterprises and 25% for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from the current levels of 20% and 35%, respectively. According to the study that analyses the effect of labour migration and the potential of the domestic labour reserve, restricting labour imports seems necessary in view of the signs of job losses for the local population, which can be identified in the National Statistical Institute (NSI) data on employment among the younger and less educated local population.

The study shows that despite the tripling of labour imports from third countries after 2021, the labour market deficit in Bulgaria is not decreasing but increasing by more than 25%.

Last week, a draft law amending and supplementing the Labour Migration and Labour Mobility Act was published on the Public Consultation Portal. The draft proposes an increase in the quotas for the total number of third-country nationals employed by local employers with a single residence and work permit by 5 percentage points for both SMEs and large enterprises. In late October 2025, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Transport and Communications Grozdan Karadjov reported that a bill had been prepared to facilitate the import of workers from third countries.

Vuldzhev recommends introducing a system that prioritizes highly skilled and highly paid workers. It is reasonable to introduce a requirement that imported workers must have specialized education in the field in which they are employed (higher or secondary vocational) and be hired for positions where the gross salary is at least 50% above the average for the sector (according to official NSI data). In this way, Vuldzhev argues, labour immigration cannot be used for social dumping or for displacing local workers; instead, it should address key structural shortages of highly skilled and highly productive specialists who contribute to the country's economic development rather than hindering it.

The path to sustainable economic development and a higher standard of living for Bulgarian citizens lies in policies to improve the quality and productivity of the workforce and stimulate investment in capital and technology, rather than in replacing it with cheap labour migration from third countries, Vuldzhev said. Another drastic increase in labour import quotas would mean abandoning the strategic priority of catching up with the more developed EU Member States in terms of productivity and income.

The report also states that Bulgaria has a huge labour reserve abroad. According to Eurostat, some 860,000 Bulgarians work in other EU Member States. Policies to attract emigrants back to the country can and should be much more ambitious, especially in view of the problems in the local labour market and the huge potential benefits for the country's economic development if a significant proportion of them return to work in Bulgaria. To this end, it is recommended that the leading policy be exemption from income tax for a decade, which would apply to every Bulgarian citizen who chooses to return to live and work permanently in the country after at least two years of living and working abroad.