Continuation of grants for jobs hard-hit by corona crisis

Labour Minister Josip Aladrović said on Thursday that the government would provide grants for jobs jeopardised the most by the coronavirus pandemic, and that it would also start investing in job-creation schemes.

Addressing a news conference after the cabinet's meeting, Minister Aladrović said that the government today defined two sets of measures, for August and September, and that the topic would be further elaborated by the steering board of the Croatian Employment Service (HZZ) on 6 September.

In August, job-keeping grants in the amount of HRK 4,000 per employee will be in force for the catering industry, the event industry, passenger transport and travel agencies.

In September, the grants will be available to businesses in the event industry, travel agencies and night clubs, while other sectors will not fall within this scheme due to the relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions.

Active employment policy

Aladrović said that additional budget funds would be earmarked for active employment schemes. Until the end of this year, those schemes will be bolstered with HRK 500 million, and in 2022 the allocation for this purpose will amount to HRK 1.5 billion.

Aladrović said that if epidemiological situation deteriorated, businesses could count on government support.

On Amazon

After some media outlets reported about Amazon's plans to hire employees in Croatia, the minister said that he had no concrete information and that he learned about it from the media.

Amazon is welcome in Croatia, it is a global technological and logistics giant, he said.

This U.S. multinational group, which focuses on e-commerce, cloud computing and digital streaming, is looking to hire 55,000 staff globally for corporate jobs and roles in robotics, research and engineering, international media outlets have reported.

About 40,000 jobs will be in the US, with 2,500 in the UK and the remainder mostly in India, Germany and Japan, the BBC reported on Wednesday.

The company has formally announced the opening of an office with 15 specialists in cloud infrastructure maintenance and management in Croatia.

Last October, Amazon and the Croatian Post (HP) signed an agreement on the delivery of parcels and logistics support in Croatia.

Text: Hina

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