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Good practice Imported

Work in Riga — International Talent Attraction Initiative

Latvia · Riga · See the Latvia profile · See the Riga profile

Evidence: Descriptive / self-reported Top 76% 57/100 · Ask Evidence Copilot about this practice

Work in Riga is Latvia city-led platform offering relocation guides, employer toolkits, and community integration events to attract tech and creative-industry talent to Riga and counter demographic decline.

17 %
Population lost (2000-2021)
7200 registrations
New third-country national registrations (2022)
18 %
Year-on-year increase in registrations (2022)
42 employers
Employer partners (end-2022)

Details

Maturity
Scaling
Promoter
Riga City Council / Riga Investment and Tourism Agency (RITA)
Period
2021–present
Region (NUTS)
LV00
Keywords
Public Agency

Context

Work in Riga is an initiative of the Riga Investment and Tourism Agency (RITA), operating under the Riga City Council. Launched in 2021 in response to Latvia's acute demographic challenge — the country lost approximately 17% of its population between 2000 and 2021 — the platform targets remote workers, tech professionals, and diaspora returnees.

Activities

The portal offers relocation packs (housing, schooling, banking guides), an English-language job board aggregating Riga vacancies, and a community calendar of expat integration events. Employer toolkits enable companies to brand Riga-based positions for international audiences. The programme is co-financed through EU Cohesion Funds (ERDF) with a committed budget through 2025.

Results

In 2022, Riga recorded 7,200 new third-country national registrations (Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia), up 18% year-on-year, with RITA attributing partial credit to the Work in Riga outreach. A reported 42 employer partners had joined by end-2022, including Accenture Latvia, Printful, and Tet.

Conclusions

The initiative aligns with the Latvian National Development Plan 2021-2027 target of reversing net emigration.

Implementation
Indicative cost
Low (< €50k) — Co-financed through EU Cohesion Funds (ERDF) with a committed budget through 2025; no specific total budget figure disclosed.
Time to results
Medium (1–3 years) — Launched 2021; 7,200 new registrations and 42 employer partners reported by end-2022; EU co-financing committed through 2025.
Staffing & skills
Delivered by the Riga Investment and Tourism Agency (RITA) under Riga City Council mandate

Conditions for success

  • EU Cohesion Fund (ERDF) co-financing combined with municipal baseline funding
  • Digital-first delivery (portal, job board, employer toolkits) enabling near-zero marginal cost per additional user
  • Formal employer-partner network (42 by end-2022) for co-branded outreach, including Accenture Latvia, Printful and Tet

Common failure modes

  • Post-2025 funding and continuation model is not documented in available sources, since the committed EU co-financing budget runs only through 2025

Where it fits

Governance type
municipal investment/tourism agency programme
Scale
city (Riga)
Income level
high-income EU member state

Commonly funded by

National / regional programmes

Indicative funding routes for practices of this type — always check each programme's current calls and eligibility rules.

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Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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