Deficit of workforce threatens fast-growing construction market of Eastern Europe and potentially can have negative consequences for economics of these countries, Bloomberg reports.

During many years workers has been migrating to the West looking for higher pay. Meanwhile, large cities of former communist countries, including Bucharest, Budapest and Warsaw, are changing their appearance. Commercial real estate boom is observed in those cities by experts. Now, construction companies have to get back qualified personnel into the country.

However, despite of wage rising, it is still far from the level that people can get in Western Europe. Data from the World Bank shows that gross domestic product per capita in Poland and Hungary is still significantly lower that average in EU. Annual salary in Romania is about 20% of average in EU. For Poland it is 35%.

Meanwhile, statistics shows that most Polish do not consider immigration anymore, and number of immigrants from Eastern Europe working in the UK fell by 15% in last three month.

The fastest construction boom is expected next year in Hungary. Demand for office space is rising in Slovakia, Czech Republic, Poland and Romania. About 5 billion euro was invested into commercial real estate in the first half of this year.