From the labor force to the donation of shares that have been pledged in banks/ Troubles have not stopped

2024-09-29 09:00:00, Aktualitet CNA

From the labor force to the donation of shares that have been pledged in banks/

The environment for doing business is becoming more and more challenging. Competition has increased, as market spaces have narrowed. The pressure to increase wages is high in the face of the lack of labor force as a result of the exodus, especially of young people.

Strong immigration is also affecting consumption, which, except for a few months when the tourist season peaks, is not being replaced by tourists in the rest of the year. The fall of the Euro has mainly favored importers and distributors, but has severely hit exports, agro-industry, agriculture and tourism.

In their annual reports for 2023, enterprises point out the main problems they are facing. The most important remains both the instability of the labor force and its inability to find it.

"The movement of the staff and the flight outside their borders has created numerous difficulties in the management of human resources and the provision of a health service of a high standard", it is emphasized in the annual report of "American Hospital".

The same concern for the workforce is found by "BALFIN Construction", part of one of the largest groups in the country, BALFIN. The lack of labor and their productivity is one of the main factors affecting the construction industry, in addition to rising costs.

“Lack of manpower to complete a project or meet productivity goals is a major risk when taking on new projects.

The lack of manpower to perform the work can lead to overtime and possible delays in delivering the project on time." The company announced in 2023 a reduction of 28% in the average number of employees, bringing it to 242, while the average net salary increased by about 17%, to 116.5 thousand ALL.

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"Conad Albania", which manages the supermarket chain of the same name, points out that the labor force in Albania is aging and declining. "Let's not forget the fact that the tendency of young people is to leave their country, get educated and work abroad".

"The pronounced lack of employees has led to delays in the delivery of projects", says the annual report of "Coral", an enterprise in the fish processing industry. "The general increase in costs has also been a big problem."

"The new expectations regarding work environments should be seen as structural and not temporary. In Albania, the labor force situation is further complicated by the effect of strong emigration of adult Albanians to Western countries, reducing the available labor force.

Businesses and trade associations have repeatedly expressed the difficulty in finding labor force, which inevitably leads to the reduction of the growth plans of the companies themselves", said Alessandro Rosa, administrator of "Conad Albania", earlier.

The problem with the labor force has increased the emphasis on human resources, reflected in the activity reports, where an increased attention is shown to the treatment of human resources, training, remuneration, motivation, etc. Companies state that they are constantly investing in the treatment and qualification of employees, while wages have continued to increase.

The fall of the Euro is another concern for many businesses in the country, especially those that have concentrated all their activity, or a part of it in export, leading to a decrease in profits.

"A special attention in the company's performance has been given by the volatility of the exchange rate, which has implications both economically and financially.

Since a significant part of the sales is carried out in export, their translation into Lek was carried out according to the daily exchange rate and this caused the devaluation of the sales presented in the local currency.

As a result of this, the net profit has also decreased by 37.3% compared to 2022", says the annual report of "Billa", which is active in the trading of hydrosanitary materials.

Informality remains a perennial concern. "The other problem that poses a risk for 'Brunes' sh.pk is the high level of informality in Albania, causing as a result unfair competition.

The situation is more present in other districts of Albania", it is stated in the annual report of "Brunes", with activity in the trading of hydrosanitary and construction materials.

This unstable environment and the decrease in competitiveness, due to the increase in costs, is hindering business plans for investment, while operators, especially producers, feel the lack of supportive policies from the government.

"A serious problem in growth in the European markets or even beyond remains the exchange rate, when every year we are becoming uncompetitive in foreign markets due to the continuous devaluation of the European currency. However, for 2024, we anticipate moderate sales growth. But also a decrease in the rate of profit, due to increases in costs.

There is still room for improvement in exports, where we expect expansion of the export market, but this will depend mainly on international markets, government support policies for producers, exchange rate fluctuations, as well as political and economic stability in the country. ", it is stated in the activity report of "Elka sa", which, in addition to trading products, has activity in the production of food products.

Shareholders, problems with paying loans

For the first time, in the annual specials of "Monitor" with the 200 largest companies in the country, at least two cases were identified, where the shareholders of the companies were forced to "donate" the shares, which they had left as collateral in banks, to individuals others, due to non-payment of loans, as the buyers have taken over the obligation of the bank loan.

This is an indicator that the difficulties to do business in some cases have reached a point that are forcing shareholders to declare silent bankruptcy./ Monitor.al