„Companies working in the construction, industrial, or temporary employment sectors are constantly faced with the problem of finding affordable accommodation for their employees while on business trips – most of the individuals or companies offering accommodation refuse to provide their services. This situation has become particularly acute with the influx of workers from CIS countries,“ she comments on the situation in the rental market.
Until now, she said, finding suitable accommodation for away teams required a lot of time and effort, as there was no portal or database that published only information on specialised rental accommodation.
„As a result of this pressing problem, the first employee accommodation platform, workerbed.lt, was created, bringing together both legal and private individuals into a single market for low-cost accommodation,“ says Ms Drūnė.
There will be no additional fees for those renting or offering accommodation – both parties will benefit from the virtual platform free of charge.
According to Drūne, the most difficult places to find accommodation for employees are Vilnius, Kaunas, Klaipėda, Panevėžys, Šiauliai, and Mažeikiai, while the entire seaside region becomes problematic in summer.
According to the data of the Migration Department, the number of foreigners residing in the country on 1 January 2022 exceeded 100,000, which represents 3.58% of the total population of Lithuania.
„Lithuanian workers who need permanent or short-term accommodation close to the things under construction or being built are also commandeered,“ notes the creator of the new platform.
To her knowledge, only a few countries in Europe have specialised online portals for worker accommodation similar to workerbed.lt. Germany has the most developed worker accommodation service.