Doctor, engineer, nurse - Bulgarians with these occupations willing to find work abroad can do it easily even at the moment when the global economic downturn has pushed up unemployment in the European countries, according to Slavka Radeva, EURES Manager for Bulgaria.

Spanish and German hospitals for example want to appoint about 100 Bulgarian doctors and 15 nurses, Radeva said, adding that high-skilled Bulgarian professionals find jobs abroad not only for the higher pay but also due to the better working conditions and opportunities for further training.

The Bulgarian Employment Agency joined EURES when Bulgaria acceded to the EU in January 2007. Set up in 1993, EURES is a co-operation network between the European Commission and the Public Employment Services of the EEA Member States (the EU countries plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) and other partner organizations. Switzerland also takes part in EURES co-operation. EURES provides information, advice and recruitment/placement services for the benefit of workers and employers as well as any citizen wishing to benefit from the principle of the free movement of persons.

Radeva said that up to 130 Bulgarians are expected to find seasonal farming work in the summer in Denmark which opened its labor market for Bulgarians as of May 1, 2009.

A survey of Eurobarometer shows that the European citizens are well aware of their rights to move freely and work in another EU member states. Fifty-three per cent of the respondents asked "What is EU?" say it is "freedom of movement and work". Of the newer EU member states, the greatest number of citizens who opt for working in another EU country are from Cyprus, Malta and Romania, followed by Bulgaria and Slovakia.

An interesting trend in the Bulgarians' desire to migrate is that the number of those willing to emigrate for a long period of time drops while the motive "better money" is replaced by other values such as professional career as a long-term resource for personal prosperity.

EURES Manager for Romania Camelia Mihalcea says that as few as 871 offers for work abroad are now available for Romanians, mostly in construction and farming. Last year foreign employers offered work to 1,566 Romanians which in turn is only 34 per cent of the number in 2007. The reason for the fewer offers is the economic crisis and the fact that the employers turn towards the labor markets in their own country, sources from the Romanian Employment Agency said.

Source: BTA