2017 was the first year in which the quota of foreign workers (from third countries) initially established was exceeded – instead of the 3,000 permanent workers, initially estimated by employers, and thus 3,211 people were employed. The sign that the lack of personnel became so severe that companies were forced to import labor to continue their development.
The contingent of newly hired workers for 2018 was set at 7,000.
Exceeding the threshold granted at the beginning of 2017 was also determined by the fact that former Prime Minister Sorin Grindeanu and Labor Minister Lia Olguta Vasilescu wrongly assessed developments in the labor market – after the approval of an annual quota from 3,500 in the previous three years of permanent workers, they reduced the quota from 3,500 to 3,000.
Despite businesspeople complaining about a deficit of hundreds of thousands of qualified workers, it was only in 2017 that the threshold of 3,000 workers brought from third countries was exceeded:
After the significant increase (around 30%) of these requests, the Government established for 2018, a total contingent of 7,000 foreign workers newly admitted to the Romanian labor market, with 1,500 more than in 2017.
permanent workers – reached 4,000 instead of 3,000
posted workers – from 700 to 1,200
people transferred within the same company – 700
highly qualified workers – 500
seasonal workers – 400
intern workers – 100
cross-border workers – 100
