The European Commission announced on February 16 that Career Information and Counseling Centers (CISOK) in the regional offices of the Croatian Employment Service will provide career guidance services and career information beginning in the first quarter of 2024 for participants in language programs.

According to EU Helpers, there are currently 17 of these centers, and their goal is to improve users' abilities for lifetime professional development.

The program, according to the administration, will offer quick educational courses in Croatian in a number of important industries, including building, architecture, tourism, hospitality, trade, services, processing, and food.

Concurrently, this endeavor will be incorporated into the school voucher scheme, designed for people in employment and those without, under the National Operational Program for Human Resources, which is managed by the Croatian Employment Service.

Employers are the primary source of funding for these educational activities, with additional contributions coming from the local community, according to the EU Commission. Plans to provide €150,000 for international workers to receive language instruction in Croatian have been disclosed by Zagreb.

Facilitated by organizations like Croaticum—Centre for Croatian as a Second and Foreign Language (Zagreb), The Center for Croatian Studies Abroad (Split), The Rijeka School of Croatian Studies (Rijeka), and the Department of Croatian Language and Literature (Osijek), the Croatian language course is taught by the faculties of humanities and social sciences in Zagreb, Split, Rijeka, and Osijek.

Additionally, information from the Croatian Ministry of the Interior for the months of January through November 30, 2023, indicates that 160,464 work and residency licenses were given to international employees.

The construction industry accounted for the majority of these permits (63,632), with tourist and hospitality (43,951), industry (22,249), transportation and communication (10,456), and trade (4,647) following in order of priority.

In the same time frame, 190,696 applications for residence and work permits for foreign workers were submitted, of which 160,445 were processed by the Croatian Employment Service (HZZ).