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Is Latvia a place for talent to flourish?

Jun 21, 2019
Pullman Riga Old Town, Jekaba street 24
On June 21 AmCham released a position paper outlining recommendations on attraction and retention of talent. The position focuses on two main priorities: promoting Latvia as an attractive career destination for both domestic and international talent and developing skills to reduce mismatch in the labor market.

The position is based on the results of AmCham members' survey, conducted earlier this year.

Creating an environment that would welcome talents to meet the business needs of today and tomorrow has become critical. In order to attract both investment and talent, a strong strategy along with effective communication and a comprehensive web platform would be the next essential step in making Latvia a more favorable place to live, work, study and raise families.

Proposed solutions for filling vacancies in the near-term include retraining existing workforce, recruiting highly qualified international talent, and attracting Latvian return migrants. Recruiting talent, both qualified internationals and return migrants, is going to be the most effective method to increase the labor pool. To accomplish this, AmCham suggests expediting the immigration process for qualified labor and business visitors. Other nonhuman solutions include developing automation, AI and digital solutions to reduce the number of vacant positions. 

During the launch event on June 21, a discussion about the labor availability and quality took place with the participation of Ralfs Nemiro, Minister of Economy; Kim Leandersson, Head of Riga Center of Cognizant and Renāte Strazdina, Country Manager Baltics of Microsoft.

AmCham President Ingrida Karina-Berzina introduced the main recommendations stemming from the Members' survey and moderated the panel discussion. Key findings from the survey were presented by Ricards Krizanovskis, Representative of ERDA and representative of theAmCham Labor Force working group. He informed the attendees that over half of the respondents to the survey have trouble filling high skilled labor positions.  

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We are very pleased to be part of AmCham and are looking forward to driving innovation forward in Latvia.

Mikko Fernström, General Manager, Biogen Latvia

I look forward to promoting stronger U.S.-Latvia ties and working with AmCham members to ensure Latvia is a trusted destination for international business.

John Tully, Chairman of the Board of MikroTik