Lithuania is among Europe's largest furniture exporters per head, and the plants that supply Scandinavian retail run on operators the local market no longer provides. The Philippines has a furniture export industry of its own — Cebu and Pampanga — with upholsterers, finishers and machine operators who move straight onto a European line.
Philippine furniture exporters in Cebu and Pampanga ship rattan, wood and upholstered furniture to Europe and the US, and Gulf joinery workshops employ Filipino finishers and machine operators by the thousand. Upholsterers and sewing machinists are the scarcest skill in European furniture plants and the most abundant in this pool.
Furniture roles are checked individually against the Employment Service shortage list; where a role is not listed the Service's decision follows within seven working days. Operative pay sits inside the quota, so production crews are filed under the 2027 quota in January; shift leaders and technicians paid at or above €2,893.68 can be filed now.
The constraint is the annual quota. All 24,706 permits for 2026 were used by early September; until the 2027 quota opens on 1 January a work-based permit is issued only at €2,893.68 gross a month or more (1.2 × the average wage of €2,411.40), or at €2,411.40 for professions on the national list of high-value-added shortage professions. In 2026 the quota lasted until September; employers whose files are ready in the first days of January get their permits, the rest wait.
Pay must be at least the statutory minimum — €1,153 gross a month in 2026 — or the collective-agreement or market rate for the role, and the employer registers the employment with Sodra before the first working day; above the exhausted quota the €2,893.68 / €2,411.40 lines apply instead.
Recruitment runs through our own DMW-licensed agency, Prime Search Manpower Agency Inc. in Makati (licence DMW-027-LB-11182024): your company is accredited at the Migrant Workers Office in Prague, which has jurisdiction for Lithuania, the job order is registered with the DMW, and every worker leaves Manila with a verified contract, medical clearance, pre-departure orientation and an Overseas Employment Certificate. The Philippine ban on direct hiring applies; the employer is always your company, directly — the Lithuanian permit is issued to the worker for employment with you, not with an agency.
Everything here is subject to the Law on the Legal Status of Aliens as amended, the annual quota resolution, the Employment Service shortage list and the Migration Department's practice in force.
Yes — 20–40 operators with team leaders is a normal wave; larger plans run in waves eight weeks apart, within the quota.
Not for selection; machine families are similar and the induction covers the differences. We test aptitude and quality discipline, not brand familiarity.
Candidates come from plants with the same hazards; your induction and PPE rules are briefed before departure in English.
General information for employers, not legal or migration advice. Rules change; we re-verify before each hire.