Municipal companies in Zadar have been failing to fill field positions for months, while there is strong interest in office roles within the city administration. The largest city-owned enterprise, Vodovod, has recently issued three decisions of non-selection for public tenders.
Vodovod sought plumbers, mechanics, and electricians for pumping stations in the Nin, Vir, Privlaka, and Vrsi branches, but no candidates applied for any of the three tenders, forcing the company to launch new recruitment drives for these positions.
At Čistoća Zadar, the problem is chronic. Director Ivan John Krstičević stated that they repeat tenders for landfill operators, recycling yard attendants, and secondary raw material collectors month after month because they struggle to find staff, with some employees having left. "If conditions do not improve, we will have to keep repeating the tenders," Krstičević told Antena Zadar.
The situation is similar at Eko Zadar, which received only one application for its latest tender for auxiliary workers. The candidate met the requirements and was hired immediately, but workers had previously left the company due to the conditions at the waste management centre in Donji Biljani, particularly the unpleasant odours in the facilities.
The picture is entirely different in the city administration: for a tender for an administrative officer in the Department for Managing City Property, headed by head Tomislav Korona, 16 applications were received.
The companies hope that salary increases will improve response rates. Salaries have already been raised at Čistoća, and at Vodovod, a new job classification system is expected to be finalised by the end of summer, pending approval from the trade union, Workers' Council, and Supervisory Board.
