Work in Riga — Latvia's first integrated digital platform for international talent attraction

Work in Riga is a digital talent attraction platform launched on 8 February 2023 by the Riga Investment and Tourism Agency (LiveRiga), a body established in April 2021 under Riga City Council with a team of 30 people covering investment, tourism and international positioning.

What it does: The platform is described as unique in Latvia: it consolidates in one English-language interface all information relevant to moving and starting work in Riga — vacancies, immigration procedures, housing, childcare and daily life — for three distinct audiences: EU citizens, third-country nationals and Latvian diaspora members. The platform was developed in partnership with Erda (a Riga HR agency) and Printify, a Riga-headquartered company that employs workers from 28 countries.

Strategic rationale: Riga has identified ready-to-commit investment projects worth €1 billion that could create 3,000 new jobs, but their realisation depends on resolving labour shortages. The platform was created explicitly to compete with neighbouring Lithuania and Estonia, which already operate effective talent attraction systems. Alongside the platform, the agency relaunched the Workcation Riga programme, inviting international tech companies (turnover ≥€5 million in 2022, ≥25 employees, no existing Latvian presence) to spend a fully funded working week in the city.

Current status: The platform and Workcation programme represent a strategic shift launched in early 2023; measurable adoption figures have not yet been published as of June 2026.

Sources: https://www.riga.lv/en/article/riga-attracts-foreign-talents-and-new-businesses | https://investinlatvia.org/en/news/work-in-riga-new-platform-for-international-job-seekers

Read the full analysis: https://www.riga.lv/en/article/riga-attracts-foreign-talents-and-new-businesses