With the adoption of digital technology reaching unprecedented levels, remote working has become a common practice for many companies. The talent pool of potential employees has expanded as employers who are unable to find specialists in Lithuania have moved the recruitment process to other countries. According to Andej Rynkevi, the head of a business outsourcing company Baltic Virtual Assistants, the latter issue has led the company to look for employees abroad.
The shortage of specialists in Lithuania slowed down our growth rates, leading us to expand our search for employees abroad. In the finance and IT departments, the shortage of specialists was particularly high. We wanted to bring more cultural diversity to the team. The evaluation process is solely based on objective criteria, so the first thing we look at is whether the specialist meets the requirements of a specific position and the company's values, says A. Rynkevi in a press release.
A. Rynkevi says that the company first started employing specialists from neighboring countries. Most of the new foreign specialists we employed were from Poland at the beginning of the year. We chose this country because of its similar work culture and mentality, the specialists good English skills, and the fact that there is almost no time difference between Lithuania and Poland. He said that the company is currently recruiting specialists from war-torn Ukraine to help the people settle in Lithuania.
We have started recruiting people affected by the war in Ukraine over the last few weeks, and we still have more than twenty open positions. A. Rynkevi said that the company will reimburse the new employees from Ukraine's accommodation costs for up to six months.
Hiring foreign specialists may not be as challenging as it may seem.
A. Rynkevi assures that there are not many, but sometimes bureaucratic processes that can cause some complications when asked about the challenges of recruiting foreign specialists.
The migration-related paperwork is the main challenge. He says that the process can take a while to get a work permit, so it can take a long time before the person is granted a work permit.
There are no major difficulties with the work ethics of foreign employees, according to A. Rynkevi. A clear integration policy and a detailed selection process can help avoid such problems, according to him.
Foreign specialists are fairly frequently integrated into the team, because we follow established work policies and standards within the company. It is important to have a good selection process during which you can identify potential risks and select the most suitable candidate, according to the head of Baltic Virtual Assistants. When hiring a specialist from abroad, it is important to have a good integration plan, which pays individual attention to the specialist's involvement with the team. We need to understand that joining a new group of people, especially abroad, is not an easy experience and one may not always know what to expect. It's important to get to know the new employee better and integrate the person into the company's life as soon as possible.