Seasonal workers from third countries are on the rise in Lithuania

In the first three months of this year, the Employment Service issued the highest number of seasonal work permits in the last five years. 

According to the agency, the most frequent permits were issued to men intending to work as road workers. However, the number of work permits issued to foreigners, especially from third countries, has also increased.

„Lithuania's labour market is increasingly opening up to foreigners who come here for temporary work with the aim of earning money. More than half (53%) of those who came for seasonal work were employed as road workers, while last year the most popular position was a food preparer (80%)," the report quotes Ernesta Varnaitė, head of the Foreigners Services Division of the Employment Service, as saying.

According to the Employment Service's data, 363 work permits for seasonal work were issued in the first quarter of this year. This is 2.8 times more than in the same period last year (122) and the highest number of this type of documents in the last 5 years. 

Seasonal work permits were issued to 91% of men (329) and only 9% of women (34). 

During the period under review, seasonal work permits were issued to foreigners coming from 15 countries (9 last year). The largest number of work permits were issued to citizens of Uzbekistan (42%), Tajikistan (34%), Kyrgyzstan (6%). 

In addition to the road workers mentioned above, foreigners were also employed as cooks (14%), meat preparations (7%), strawberry growers and building construction cleaners (5% each). 

In the first quarter of this year, 49 permits were also issued to foreigners who are temporarily posted to Lithuania by companies established in third countries. This is 3.3 times more than in the same period in 2024, when 15 work permits of this type were issued. 

Only men were granted permits to work as pipe fitters (24%), welders, tile layers and insulators (12% each), plasterers (10%), bricklayers and electricians (8% each). 

According to the data of the Employment Service, on 1 April this year 145.8 thousand foreigners from third countries, who came from 137 countries, were employed in Lithuania.

Mostly from Ukraine (47.5 thousand), Belarus (47.3 thousand), Uzbekistan (9.1 thousand) and Tajikistan (6.5 thousand).