You choose: we run the entire process for you – or you recruit yourself, for considerably less.
Full service • Self-service
Germany's labour shortage no longer turns on whether you recruit abroad. It turns on how much of the work you want to do yourself – and what you pay for it.
from €5,000
per placement – payable only once someone actually starts.
€490 / month
Flat – regardless of how many people you hire. Start from €0.
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, Albania, North Macedonia and Montenegro – six countries Germany can recruit from through a dedicated legal route.
Workers with completed vocational training and real experience in trades, engineering and industry.
The Western Balkans Regulation is a standalone pathway – no formal recognition of qualifications required, and valid indefinitely.
European working culture, a short journey, and frequently some German already – through decades of family ties.
People who want to stay and build a life – not fill a season.
The Western Balkans Regulation is not an open door. Germany's Federal Employment Agency may issue only a fixed number of approvals per calendar year, split across months and nationalities.
The 2025 annual quota was already used up in early December – applications without an approval already in hand went nowhere after that. Rejected applications are not carried over into the following year's quota; you have to apply again. If you intend to fill a role, it pays to plan early in the year and to use the advance approval (Vorabzustimmung) to speed the procedure up.
Source: Federal Employment Agency – Western Balkans Regulation. Figures as of July 2026; please verify before applying.Any company looking to hire staff from abroad for a German operation quickly runs into the Western Balkans Regulation: a dedicated route for workers from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, Albania, North Macedonia and Montenegro. Unlike the Skilled Immigration Act, it does not require a German-recognised vocational qualification – what it needs is a concrete job offer and the approval of the Federal Employment Agency.
For the search itself there are two routes. With full service via Balkan Recruiters, the agency handles sourcing, screening, the visa process and the authorities; you pay from €5,000 per placement, and only once someone actually starts. On the CandidateForce platform you search yourself: filter candidates, post ads to regional job boards, have messages translated automatically – from €0 for a single job ad, €490 per month on the Professional plan. Which route is cheaper depends less on the number of roles than on whether you have recruiters of your own – the side-by-side comparison and the pricing overview show the maths.
Typical roles filled this way: welders, electricians, vehicle mechatronics technicians, HGV drivers, metalworkers, plant mechanics, and people in IT, logistics and construction. The industries and countries pages break it down.
