Working in Romania
The labor shortage in Romania was over 600,000 people in 2024
Sorin Iordan, 24.07.2025, 13:17
Romanian Minister of Labor, Florin Manole, stated that Romania needs bilateral agreements with the countries of origin of workers who come to work in our country. At an event to launch the White Paper of SMEs in Romania, the minister answered a question about regulations in the field of labor import from non-EU countries. “We also need bilateral labor agreements with countries such as those in Southeast Asia, for example, which are countries of origin, because today some people leave from there to work in this country, but they land in Romania with heavy debt, because they are victims of networks, which, with the law on their side, force them into debt in order to get here to work for a modest salary, which is unfair,” Manole stated. According to him, along with protecting the rights of these people, who must not be exploited, the ministry’s order of priorities is to increase the level of employment for unemployed Romanian citizens and then for foreigners. At the end of 2024, over 140,000 employees from outside the European Union were working in Romania, the majority from countries such as Nepal, Sri Lanka, Turkey and India.
The labor shortage in Romania was over 600,000 people in 2024, which is why Romanian employers resorted to recruitment from abroad. This year, Romanian authorities issued over 42,500 employment permits for foreign citizens. More than 60% of these were issued for workers from outside the European Union in jobs in agriculture, construction, cleaning or handling goods, fields in which Romanian employers cannot find labor in the country. The Employers’ Union of Labor Importers is calling for a streamlining of the procedure for bringing workers to Romania, as the process sometimes takes up to a year. Romanian companies say they should be helped to be competitive on international recruitment markets, because there they compete with countries like Poland, Japan, South Korea, the Gulf countries, the United Arab Emirates or Saudi Arabia. According to them, although salaries and working conditions in Romania are currently better than those in the Middle East, the waiting time until the hiring procedures are completed is far too long.
Almost 1,000 jobs are available in Bihor County, in northwestern Romania, the County Employment Agency announced. The institution shows that the job offers are structured across all levels of education, and most of them, over 640, are concentrated in the city of Oradea. Among the occupations with the most available positions are unskilled packaging worker (approximately 60 positions), road freight driver (over 80 positions), commercial worker (almost 50 positions), cook’s assistant (26 positions), garment worker (at least 43 positions), painters and tilers (10 positions each available). In the area of positions requiring higher education, dozens of automation, software and construction engineer jobs are available, as well as positions for accountants, pharmacists and procurement specialists.
Several foreign citizens, who did not have the right to travel to the Schengen Area, were found by Romanian border police in cars stopped at checkpoints on roads in the western border area with Hungary, in Arad and Bihor counties. In two cars registered in Hungary, checked near the Nădlac crossing point, 11 migrants were identified. The two drivers were from the Republic of Moldova and Romania. Also, in the Borş customs area, in a minibus registered in Romania and driven by a Romanian, 3 migrants from Nepal were found without travel documents. Border police are investigating the 3 drivers for migrant smuggling, who face sentences of imprisonment between 2 and 7 years. The 14 foreigners are being investigated for attempted fraudulent crossing of the state border and could be banned from entering the territory of the European Union for a period of up to 5 years.
