I keep coming back to one question when I look at international recruitment in Europe.
Europe says it needs workers. Employers say they cannot find enough people with the right skills. At the same time, outside the European Union, there are many candidates actively looking for legitimate opportunities to work in Europe.
So why is international recruitment still so difficult?
On paper, it sounds simple.
There is demand. There is supply. They should meet.
But anyone who has actually been involved in international recruitment knows that it rarely works that way.
And recent European data shows that this is not just an impression from within the recruitment industry.
The Labour Shortage Is Real — But So Is the Recruitment Problem
In June 2026, the European Commission published new Eurobarometer findings on the experience of European small and medium-sized enterprises recruiting workers from outside the EU.
One figure immediately stood out to me:
46% of European SMEs reported difficulties finding workers with the right skills.
That already tells us something about the pressure employers are facing.
But another figure is perhaps even more interesting.
Among SMEs that had recruited non-EU nationals, 54% described the recruitment process as difficult.
The reported obstacles included administrative and immigration procedures, difficulties finding suitable candidates, and language barriers.
So we have two problems happening at the same time.
Employers are struggling to find workers.
And when some of them look outside the EU for those workers, they can face another difficult process.
That is where the conversation becomes much more interesting.
So Where Is the Disconnect?
One thing I have learned from working around international recruitment is that having applicants is not the same as having suitable candidates.
You can publish one vacancy and receive dozens—or even hundreds—of applications.
That looks promising.
But then the real work starts.
Does the candidate actually have the experience the employer requires?
Do they understand the salary and working conditions?
Are they genuinely prepared to relocate?
Are their expectations realistic?
Do they have the documents required for the next stage?
And perhaps one of the most important questions: will they still be available when the employer and the process are finally ready?
This is why I don’t think international recruitment should be measured simply by how many CVs are collected.
A hundred applicants do not solve an employer’s problem if only a handful are genuinely suitable and prepared to proceed.
Then Comes the Process
Finding the right person is only one part of international recruitment.
Depending on the country, nationality, position and individual situation, there may still be employment authorization, immigration procedures, document preparation, translations, visa or residence requirements and other administrative steps before employment can actually begin.
And these procedures are not entirely within the control of the employer, candidate or recruitment partner.
Authorities have their own requirements and processing times.
Documents may need to be corrected or updated.
Requirements may differ depending on the country or the candidate’s circumstances.
This is where something that looked straightforward at the beginning can suddenly become much more complicated.
The European Commission’s 2026 Eurobarometer findings reflect this as well: administrative and immigration procedures were the most commonly reported obstacle among SMEs recruiting non-EU nationals.
That is worth paying attention to.
It tells us that finding a willing employer and a willing worker is only the beginning.
And Sometimes the Biggest Problem Is Simply Time
This part does not always receive enough attention.
International recruitment can take time.
And during that time, life continues on both sides.
A candidate who was completely committed to an opportunity several months ago may receive another offer.
Their family circumstances may change.
Their documents may expire.
They may simply become tired of waiting without knowing what is happening.
The employer can change too.
A vacancy that was urgent several months ago may no longer exist. Production requirements may change. The number of workers needed may increase or decrease.
This is why communication during the waiting period matters so much.
Sometimes there is genuinely no new development to report. But even then, knowing that the process is still active is very different from hearing nothing at all.
Silence creates uncertainty.
And uncertainty is where candidates, employers and even recruitment partners begin to lose confidence in the process.
Expectations Matter More Than We Think
Another issue I see repeatedly in international recruitment is expectation.
A candidate may hear “job in Europe” and already have an idea in their mind about salary, accommodation, working conditions, residence possibilities or how quickly they will be able to travel.
An employer may assume that once candidates have been selected, they will be ready to arrive within a short period.
A recruitment partner may be trying to satisfy both sides.
If those expectations are not discussed properly at the beginning, the problems usually appear later—when everyone has already invested time and effort.
This is why transparency in recruitment matters so much.
It is better to have a difficult conversation at the beginning than a much bigger problem at the end.
Tell candidates what the job actually involves.
Tell employers what the process realistically requires.
And when something is uncertain, say that it is uncertain.
International recruitment already has enough moving parts. It does not need unrealistic promises added to it.
Too Many People in the Chain Can Make Things Harder
International recruitment often involves more than two parties.
There may be an employer, recruitment company, sourcing partner, consultant, immigration specialist, candidate and government authority involved at different stages.
There is nothing necessarily wrong with that. International recruitment often requires cooperation.
The problem begins when nobody is completely clear about who is responsible for what.
Who screened the candidate?
Who explained the working conditions?
Who checks the documents?
Who tells the candidate when something changes?
Who confirms that the candidate is still available?
Who follows up when the process becomes delayed?
A small communication gap at the beginning can become a much larger problem several months later.
For me, this is one of the reasons good coordination is so important.
It is not the most visible part of recruitment, but very often it is the part holding everything together.
Europe Is Already Looking for Better Ways to Connect Employers and Workers
What makes this discussion especially relevant now is that the European Union itself is working on this problem.
The EU Talent Pool Regulation entered into force on 1 June 2026.
The initiative is intended to create the first EU-wide platform connecting employers in participating EU Member States with jobseekers from outside the European Union, particularly for occupations facing shortages.
The platform is expected to become fully operational by the end of 2027.
I find this development very interesting because it recognizes something important:
Europe does not only need workers.
It also needs better ways of connecting employers with the people who may be able to fill those shortages.
Technology can certainly help.
A larger platform can make candidates more visible. It can make international sourcing easier and potentially give employers access to people they would never have reached through local recruitment alone.
But I don’t think technology alone will solve the entire problem.
A platform can introduce an employer to a candidate.
It cannot have every difficult conversation for them.
It cannot completely prevent misunderstandings.
It cannot guarantee that expectations remain aligned several months into a process.
And it cannot replace human judgment when deciding whether a person, position and opportunity genuinely fit together.
Maybe We Need to Think About International Recruitment Differently
Perhaps international recruitment should not begin with:
“How many candidates can we find?”
Maybe the better questions are:
Who do we actually need?
Who is realistically suitable?
What will be required to bring that person into the workforce legally and successfully?
Who is responsible for each stage?
And how do we keep everyone informed until the process is finished?
That changes recruitment from simply collecting candidates into managing an actual workforce project.
And I think that distinction matters.
What Working in International Recruitment Has Taught Me
Working in international recruitment has made one thing very clear to me:
Finding interested candidates is often not the hardest part.
The difficult part is everything that happens between:
“We need workers.”
and
“This person is ready to start.”
Screening.
Expectations.
Documents.
Communication.
Waiting.
Changes.
Follow-ups.
And sometimes starting again when circumstances change.
This is also why I believe good recruitment coordination should never simply be about sending as many CVs as possible.
Our approach focuses on creating a more organized connection between employers, recruitment partners and candidates through pre-screening, communication, document coordination, expectation setting and administrative support.
Because ultimately, successful international recruitment is not about how many people enter the pipeline.
It is about how many suitable people can realistically make it through that pipeline.
The Gap Is Where the Real Work Happens
Maybe Europe’s international recruitment challenge is not simply a lack of people.
Maybe part of the problem is the gap between the people looking for opportunities and the employers who need them.
Europe is already trying to close that gap. The EU Talent Pool is one example.
But behind every vacancy is an employer trying to keep a business running.
And behind every application is a person considering a major decision about their career, family and future.
Somewhere between those two, recruitment has to work.
Finding each other is only the first step.
The real work is making the connection work.
And that requires something technology and candidate databases alone cannot provide:
clarity, preparation, transparency, communication and coordination.
Sources & Further Reading
European Commission — Eurobarometer: Obstacles and Opportunities for European SMEs Recruiting Outside the EU
Published June 2026
https://employment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu/news/eurobarometer-highlights-obstacles-and-opportunities-european-smes-recruiting-outside-eu-2026-06-01_en
European Commission / European Labour Authority — Labour Shortages and Surpluses in Europe 2025
Published June 2026
https://employment-social-affairs.ec.europa.eu/labour-shortages-and-surpluses-europe-2025_en
EURES — What the Latest Data Reveals About Labour Market Imbalances Across Europe
Published June 2026
https://eures.europa.eu/what-latest-data-reveals-about-labour-market-imbalances-across-europe-2026-06-29_en
European Commission — EU Talent Pool
https://home-affairs.ec.europa.eu/policies/migration-and-asylum/legal-migration-and-resettlement/work/eu-talent-pool_en
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