15.02.2022

ROMANIA IS LOOKING FOR THOUSANDS OF FOREIGN WORKERS

In an effort to cover at least some of the labor market shortages, Romania has doubled the number of work permits for foreign nationals from outside the European Union. Up to 100,000 workers from outside the bloc could be recruited by Romanian companies this year, a record number and twice as many as last year, Romanian media reported.

Over the last decade, more than 100,000 workers from non-EU countries have come to work in Romania. An unskilled worker from Asia earns an average of 500 euros a month, according to Digi 24 television.

The country is looking for workers in a wide range of industries - from construction, hotels and restaurants to professional drivers, car repair shops, bakery and confectionery.

For last summer's season, hoteliers in Romania relied heavily on workers from non-EU countries for lack of an alternative to the internal labor market, the chairman of the Romanian Hotel Industry Federation, Kalin Ile, told the state news agency Agerpress.

According to him, the hotel industry is making great efforts to increase salaries in the sector and make it more attractive, so as to attract Romanians who have gone to work abroad. Nearly 5 million Romanians live outside the country, most of them in search of better pay. Another sector of the economy that is experiencing severe labor shortages is construction.

Romanians are going to the West, looking for Asians

Romania's workforce is aging, and companies have to deal with competition in the European market, where many Romanians go to work. "We qualify for the West. For example, Germany says it needs 400,000 workers a year. We have hundreds of Romanian companies that have no one to work with," Christian Parvan, chairman of the Association of businessmen in Romania, told Free Europe.

Companies in Romania are looking for workers mainly from Asia - India, Vietnam, Sri Lanka. Parvan explains this with the serious competition on the European market. "Why would a Ukrainian come to Romania instead of going to Germany or Poland, where offers are better?" he asks rhetorically.

Kathleen Vishan, director of the Conlex construction company, expects 70 Tajiks and 30 Pakistanis to arrive. Nearly half of the 600 workers are foreigners. The monthly expenses for a foreign worker reach 1,200 euros, of which 600-700 euros represent a salary, and the rest are the employer's expenses for accommodation and food.

Vishan admits he cannot find Romanian workers in the long run. "If I find Romanians, they stay for 2-3 days and leave. On the other hand, it is more attractive for them to go to work in Germany, where they are offered 3,000-3,500 euros," said the construction contractor.

In 2022, the number of construction workers rose to nearly 420,000 from 330,000 last year, according to data from the Federation of Construction Company Owners. The cost of a foreign worker is higher than that of a Romanian worker, the organization said.

To address the shortage of workers, business organizations have planned a training system for those wishing to come to work in the country. "We want to make a vocational training system because we saw that the state failed, even though it made programs for vocational high schools," said Adriana Iftime, general manager of the Federation of Employers of Construction Companies.

The increased quota for workers of non-European origin will help companies complete their projects, especially in construction, and will solve some of their problems. "In the construction sector, working with the Asian workforce is not necessarily the easiest. The workers who come from there are not the best craftsmen. We have to work with workers from different cultures, with different sentimental behaviors, different religions," Iftime said.

Romanian employers prefer local employees, but there is nowhere to get them. "Not only do we not have them, but we have nowhere to attract young people to the construction sector," she said.

Foreign workers are also in demand in the transport sector. "We need more than 100,000 drivers for companies in the country. And now we have foreign drivers from Asian countries, especially Sri Lanka," said Vasile Stefanescu, president of the Confederation of Licensed Operators and Carriers in Romania.

Demand for foreign labor for the Romanian market was strong last year, despite the pandemic, Free Europe notes. In the period January - August 2021, the number of companies that requested the issuance of certificates of labor from abroad was 6518 compared to 4135 in 2020.

The problem with bureaucracy

At the same time, recruitment companies say hiring a foreign worker sometimes takes eight months due to bureaucracy. The average waiting period depends on the country from which the workers come. For some countries, such as Nepal, India and Bangladesh, there is a single embassy in Delhi with few staff. You have to wait 5 months for a visa, says Melania Pop from a recruitment company.

A larger quota for foreign workers in Romania is at the request of local businesses so that they can operate this year. Romanian authorities are in talks to replenish consular staff where needed, but restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic have created problems in this regard, Labor Minister Marius Budi told Digi 24.

According to Iosi Peisah, who works for a foreign recruitment company, it is necessary to supplement the number of staff in the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Interior, the Immigration Inspectorate and the Romanian Embassy, ​​respectively, in order to cope the system with the large number of visas and speed up the process.