Slovenia is seeing high demand for foreign workforce, with the Employment Service receiving 54,000 work permit applications in the first nine months of the year, which was as much as in the entire last year. By the end of the year, the number of applications is expected to reach 63,000, a new record, reports the Slovenian Press Agency (STA). By the end of September, over 35,700 applications were approved, 8.4% more than in the same period last year. Last year, a total of nearly 46,300 work permits were issued. Employment Service director Marko Bošnjak expects a surge in applications before the end of the year. He said he believes around 55,000 applications will be approved in total this year. The Employment Service attributes the growth in applications to significant structural discrepancies on the labour market. There is a big demand for workforce, while supply is low due to record low unemployment. The Employment Service expects high demand for foreign work force to persist in the future, given Slovenia's demography. Data from the Statistics Office for July 2022 showed that foreigners accounted for 13.3% of Slovenia's workforce.