Cyprus is turning to Egypt and India to replenish its construction workforce as employers struggle to replace workers leaving under the government’s Syrian repatriation scheme.

Speaking to the Cyprus Mail on Friday, the building contractors’ association Oseok informed that the government is in contact with both countries over ways to bring workers to Cyprus.

“We must replenish the workforce as the domestic market either does not want to or cannot meet the demand,” Oseok said.

The federation said Cyprus already had a framework with Egypt that could be used for this purpose, but that the 2024 memorandum of understanding had not been fully utilised by the government.

The MOU, signed in June 2024, was designed to regulate and facilitate the entry and residence of Egyptian workers in Cyprus according to the needs of the labour market.

It provides for the recruitment of Egyptian nationals, with a joint committee responsible for overseeing its implementation and assessing whether changes are needed.

The two governments agreed in April 2026 to intensify efforts to implement the agreement, including cooperation on vocational training to ensure that Egyptian workers have skills suited to the Cypriot market.

Speaking to the Cyprus Mail, the employers and industrialists federation (Oev) said a similar model was being considered for India, commending the country as having a vast workforce with labourers capable of meeting the requirements of the Cypriot construction industry.

The difference is partly due to the immigration procedures applying to third country nationals.

 Workers from outside the EU generally require an entry permit and temporary residence and employment permit before they can work in Cyprus.

Employers must also comply with the relevant approval procedures for the employment of third country nationals.

The government is simultaneously encouraging Syrian families to return voluntarily to Syria under its repatriation scheme.

The programme provides financial assistance to families returning to Syria and allows one adult family member to remain in Cyprus temporarily and continue working while the rest of the family relocates.

Oseok has requested construction companies to inform Syrian workers about the scheme and the options available to them.

The federation has previously estimated that the construction industry needs some 5,000 additional workers, covering positions ranging from labourers and drivers to skilled technical workers and engineers.

The labour shortage has become more pressing as Cyprus’ construction sector continues to boom, while employers face difficulty recruiting enough people to meet demand.

Construction employers say the need for additional workers is becoming increasingly urgent.

Contractor Konstantinos Karmiotis told the Cyprus Mail that recruiting Egyptians was currently more difficult than hiring workers from EU countries such as Romania or Bulgaria because of the additional paperwork involved.

“But we will need to act,” he said. “I’ve lost so many men with the repatriations. Other colleagues say the same. We simply cannot find the men right now.”