Managers of Western European hospitals are seeking to hire Bulgarian doctors and nurses at a labor market event in Sofia.

The International Labor Market for Medical Specialists is organized for the first time in Bulgaria over the weekend.

A total of 19 recruiters from the UK, Germany, France, Switzerland, Sweden, and Denmark are presenting job offers to Bulgarian doctors and nurses.

The applicants can not only meet employers but can also submit a CV and be interviewed for a job on the spot.

Most of the employers offer language courses and accommodation, including for the family members of their new recruits.

The discrepancy in the pay of medical staff in Bulgaria and in Western Europe is likely to draw substantial interest to the job offers. A hospital resident doctor in Bulgaria would make about BGN 500 monthly, a substantial difference from the EUR 3000-4000 salary in a country such as Germany.

The headhunters are targeting primarily young Bulgarian doctors who are offered a chance to start a career in Western Europe.

The major reason for Western European companies to seek to hire doctors from Bulgaria and other Eastern European states is the shortage of medical specialists in their countries.

Bulgaria already faces a severe shortage of nurses, who are more underpaid than doctors, and many social critics have raised worries that a similar situation is emerging with the hospital doctors many of whom might be lured to go to the West.