Declining demographics will first affect Lithuania’s rural areas, industry association says

The latest study carried out by the Lithuanian Real Estate Development Association (LNTPA) has shown that, within ten years, the available workforce will shrink by 35 percent. According to Dargis, employers will be forced to raise wages and create better working conditions in an attempt to retain employees. However, this is not going to increase the number of workforce substantially.

Dargis spoke at the conference Investment Plan in Europe: Ready to Accept the Challenge? which was held in Šiauliai. He said that even if the birth rate was to double now, its positive results would be felt only 25 years later. Western societies are turning to digitalisation and robotisation as possible solutions for their demographic problems, which could help Lithuania, too.

According to the president of LPK, Lithuania is losing 25,000-30,000 inhabitants to emigration every year. Therefore, it is crucial that people studying in rural areas be well-prepared for professional activities. Dargis said that technological and engineering sciences should be dominant in regional universities and colleges, if their graduates wish to find employment after finishing studies.

Dargis emphasised that, based on statistics, as many as 24 percent of industrial companies of Šiauliai region cannot find technology and engineering specialists.