Romania: Hiring foreign workers as short-term solution

Romania need to hire foreign workers from 2018. In short term, the Romanian market cannot compare about labor wages with Italy and Spain - destinations now attracting thousands of Romanians each year. The minister's call Romanians abroad for return will be difficult to get responses, especially in the context of workers' freedom of movement within the EU. Also, local workers complain a lot about the domestic working conditions.

In 2018, Romania will suffer from a serious shortage of labors in IT, healthcare, construction and agriculture. The government has prepared 30 billion Ron (nearly $ 6.4 billion) for the second national development plan to build bridges, schools and kindergartens. Romania has capital, but insufficient workers to deploy. That's why hiring foreign worker is now considered carefully.

Last September, at the AHK Romania proposal, a meeting of four ministers - the Ministry of Labor, Foreign Affairs, Internal Affairs and Education Ministry - came up with a solution for labor shortage: In a short term, we see foreigners as a support. Education  is the medium and long term solution.

On one hand, the curriculum need for a change: Extending student internship for up to 2 semesters to provide additional human resouces for the labor market. On the other hand, hire foreign high-quality labor from developing countries - who will be satisfied with the wages that Romanian workers consider low - then signing short-term contracts with them (2-3 years). This solution will resolve the problem of human resources immediately for business

Trinet Grup and Gormet Co. were the first companies in Romania to follow the labor movement from developing countries. Each company has successively recruited 80 and 100 welders and structural workers from Vietnam. In the context that the Romanian government encourages the use of labor from abroad, and Vietnamese workers can meet international standards such as the AWS, this will be a viable and effective option for Romanian businesses, right from 2018, especially for the construction industry.