Record-high number of employees in Romania
The number of employees in Romania is the highest in the past decade
Bogdan Matei, 17.01.2023, 14:00
Romania seems to have reached the privileged scenario in which economic developments are disconnected from political influences. Over the 16 years since the country joined the European Union, it has had as many as 11 prime ministers, most of whom set out to revolutionise the countrys economic and social policies. But governmental instability, legislative inconsistency and the lack of inspiration that accompanied these policies have more often than not disrupted the labour market.
Today, it seems to have finally stabilised, and Romania currently has nearly 6.7 million employment contracts registered in the national employee registry (REVISAL), 16% more than last year and a record for the past decade.
Against a reduced overall population of 19 million, according to the preliminary results of the latest census, the number of employees is the largest in the last 10 years, the labour minister Marius Budăi also announced on his Facebook page.
The most employees, over 1 million per sector, are reported in the processing industry and trade, followed by constructions, transport and logistics, with about half a million each.
According to the labour minister, the REVISAL does not include certain categories of workers, which are nonetheless covered in the statistics put together by the National Tax Agency. This includes civil servants, military personnel or judiciary staff. The public sector remains the most important employer in Romania.
The number of jobs filled in public institutions and authorities last year was 1,280,000, and 64% of them were in the central public administration, according to data made public by the finance ministry. More than 600,000 people were working in institutions fully funded from the state budget. The largest number of such jobs, 300,000, was in public education, followed by the Interior Ministry-over 125,000 and the Defence Ministry-nearly 75,000. The Health Ministry has 18,000 employees. And over 460,000 people were working in local public administration in November 2022.
The year 2022, the mass media in Bucharest concluded, was quite intense for the Romanian employees and employers. Recruitment skyrocketed to a level above pre-COVID-19 figures, and human resources experts say this year companies will continue to compete fiercely over personnel.
In their plans for 2023, employers remain cautious with respect to new recruitment and to salary increases, but one thing is certain: they have to keep their employees close, to give them balance and a sense of purpose, experts also explained. (AMP)
