In 2025, the Employment Agency issued work permits and registrations to 24,642 third-country nationals employed in Bulgaria, according to data reported by BTA. That number says a lot about what the market actually needs.
The strongest demand was in hospitality and restaurants, agriculture and forestry, and construction. These are exactly the sectors where the shortage is felt first and hardest, because the business cannot simply “pause” and wait until enough local candidates appear.
Why this matters for employers
- When there are not enough people locally, businesses need a workable and reliable alternative.
- For many companies, third-country recruitment is already the difference between stable operations and constant staffing stress.
- The real challenge is not only finding people, but getting the whole process to move in time.
That is why this topic is no longer seen as something unusual in the Bulgarian market. In many industries it is already part of normal planning, especially when the need repeats every season or stays open year after year.