The Akrapovič manufacturer, which purchased production facilities and land in Črnomelj from a German owner five years ago, gradually moved its production and workers from Ivančna Gorica. It then opened 300 new jobs which went to the unemployed in the Bela Krajina region. The plant in Črnomelj now has 750 employees, but the company still needs to employ another 30 welders. In order to speed up the search for such workers, the company has called on its own employees to help out. Each employee who brings in a new welder will be rewarded with 250 euros.

"It really is difficult to see the large number of unemployed but at the same time a lack of profiles for certain jobs. Akrapovič will most likely have to, just like all the other former companies in the Municipality of Črnomelj, look for workers on the other side of the Kolpa River," says the Mayor of the Municipality of Črnomelj, Mojca Čemas Stjepanovič.
The Akrapovič company also counts on getting workers from Croatia. But it will first ask its own employees to help it find such workers. The first thing people normally ask about is the salary. The entry level salary for a welder at the Akrapovič plant in Črnomelj is 1,100 euros gross.
Petra Držaj, TV Slovenija; translated by K. J.