Working in Romania
Private companies in Romania are forecasting an average increase of 6% in basic salaries in 2026
Sorin Iordan, 15.10.2025, 13:44
Private companies in Romania are forecasting an average increase of 6% in basic salaries in 2026, after a 7.4% increase this year and 10.4% in 2024, according to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers. According to the analysis, this year, the technology sector recorded the highest increase in average salary, of 9%, being also the sector with the highest average gross salary among those analyzed, about 21,000 lei (over 4,100 euros). The retail sector had the second highest increase, with 8.9%, followed by industry, with 8.3%. At the opposite end, the pharmaceutical sector recorded an increase in average basic salary of only 3.5 percent. The organizational functions with the highest increases this year were sales (9.3%) and administrative and infrastructure services (9%), followed by human resources (7.6%) and IT (7.1%). In the coming year, industrial companies anticipate the highest average salary increase, at 8.3%, followed by pharmaceutical companies (6.9%) and retail companies (6.6%). In contrast, technology companies expect a 5.2 percent increase, the lowest of the areas included in the research. The study also shows that high-performing employees, so-called high achievers, receive salaries on average 13 to 20% higher than their colleagues. The Bucharest-Ilfov region leads the way in terms of salaries, registering an average gross salary of over 16,300 lei (about 3,200 euros), over 85% higher than Moldavia and Wallachia, and 52 percent more than Banat and Transylvania. The PayWell Romania 2025 study was attended by 149 companies from 7 sectors of activity, with a total of over 212,000 employees.
Employers in Romania posted almost 200,000 new jobs in the first 9 months of this year, according to data from the online recruitment platform eJobs. July was the month with the most available jobs – around 25,000 – while the average for the rest of the year was 20,000 positions per month. With almost 50,000 new jobs, retail remains the field that dominates the Romanian job market, as players in this sector have maintained their expansion plans regardless of economic and fiscal changes. Also, 27,000 jobs came from service employers, as many from call centers and 22,000 from the food industry. Other fields that have had over 15,000 open positions since January are transport and logistics, production, tourism, construction, and banking and finance. The most sought-after were beginners and candidates from the mid-level segment, with between 2 and 5 years of experience. The analysis carried out by eJobs also shows that the fields that continue to hire remote workers are call centers, IT and telecom, retail, advertising, insurance and education. In terms of the geographical distribution of jobs, Bucharest maintains its leading position in the number of jobs posted by employers, followed by Iași and Cluj. The top of the ranking is completed by Braşov, Ilfov and Timiş, while Argeş, Mureş and Arad are placed in the last positions.
56 foreign citizens were detected in illegal situations following actions carried out at national level, between October 3 and 12, by immigration police officers. Nine of the foreigners were placed in public custody centers, whose occupancy rate is 20%, reports the General Inspectorate for Immigration. The institution shows that, during the mentioned period, it carried out 152 actions and inspections, both individually and in cooperation with other institutions with responsibilities in the field to verify compliance with the aliens’ regime. As a result, 39 contravention sanctions were applied, totaling over 134,000 lei (approximately 26,500 euros). On the other hand, about 2,150 foreign citizens requested the extension of their right to reside in Romania, and the IGI states that it issued almost 2,800 temporary and long-term residence permits. At the same time, during the same period, 897 residence permits were issued to beneficiaries of temporary protection, according to European Commission Directive number 55 of 2001, the recipients being displaced persons from Ukraine.
