The Employers’ Confederation of Latvia (LDDK) sets strategic priorities for 2026 – human capital, labour market flexibility, social dialogue and reducing public expenditure.

At LDDK's Council meeting, the Employers’ Confederation of Latvia (LDDK) approved its key priorities for 2026, highlighting strategic initiatives aimed at strengthening national competitiveness, ensuring sustainable growth, and enhancing the country’s ability to respond to labour market challenges. LDDK’s focus areas include human capital development and labour market flexibility, strengthening social dialogue, and reducing public expenditure.

LDDK’s 2026 action plan identifies improving workforce availability as a fundamental prerequisite for Latvia’s economic development. This includes targeted measures to design and implement a migration policy suited to Latvia’s needs, improvements to Labour Law regulation, and structured action plans that ensure the full engagement of domestic labour resources while also attracting potential workforce from abroad.

“Latvia’s labour market challenges are significant and concrete. According to data from the Central Statistical Bureau, in the third quarter of 2025 there were more than 19,000 vacant jobs and over 436,000 economically inactive individuals, while employers continue to face difficulties in attracting workers. Human capital development is not merely an aspiration but an urgent national strategic objective. It is necessary not only to increase employment but also to systematically address skills mismatches and engage both the local workforce and international talent. Latvia must be ambitious in developing a unified human capital strategy that includes national migration policy and labour market reforms, while strengthening social dialogue to build a competitive and sustainable economy,” said Kaspars Gorkšs, Director General of LDDK.

LDDK considers social dialogue to be one of the most effective mechanisms for promoting economic development. The Confederation encourages the use of the National Tripartite Cooperation Council (NTSP) as a high-quality platform for discussions between employers, employees and state institutions to address current labour market and economic issues. LDDK has prepared a proposal for the NTSP and its sub-councils’ work plan for 2026 and will submit it for approval together with the social partners.

LDDK emphasises the need to continue optimising public sector expenditure following the adoption of the state budget, as well as implementing targeted reforms to improve efficiency and eliminate redundant functions, thereby redirecting resources towards national priorities, particularly security.

Furthermore, 2026 marks an important phase in Latvia’s preparations for the next EU funding period for 2028–2034. LDDK stresses the need to begin work on medium- and long-term strategic planning documents — including Latvia’s Sustainable Development Strategy until 2050, the National Development Plan, and the Human Capital Development Strategy — which will form a strong foundation for the country’s economic policy in the coming decade.

The Employers’ Confederation of Latvia (LDDK) is the most influential and largest organisation representing employers in Latvia. For more than 30 years, it has served as the national-level representative of employers and a socio-economic dialogue partner to the Cabinet of Ministers and the Free Trade Union Confederation of Latvia, representing employers’ interests in the Saeima and in bilateral discussions with sectoral ministries.