The trend for Romanian employees to look for new job opportunities, digitalization, and remote working have led to significant changes in the labor market in 2021. The number of active jobs increased by 25% compared to the previous year and more than half (56%) of them were for specialists with office work (white-collar candidates), according to data from the BestJobs platform.
At the same time, in 2021 salaries increased across all industries, from 16% in IT/Telecom to 31% in Sales and as much in Marketing.
The number of remote opportunities increased by 40% compared to 2020 and saw 1.8 million applications from candidates, as well as around 30,000 keyword searches, placing “remote” at the top of the most, searched for jobs on the platform.
What were the highest paying fields in 2021
In 2021, 91% of active candidates on BestJobs expressed a preference to know the salary for the position they were applying to as soon as they read the ad.
Among the fields with the highest salaries in 2021 were IT/Telecom, with an average net salary of €1,629, Medical/Healthcare, with an average net salary of €1,433, and Engineering and Management, with €1,200 and €1,222 per month, respectively, according to the BestJobs report.
Positions with the lowest average net salaries were in areas such as Administration / Secretarial, with 771 euros, Call Center, with 797 euros and Tourism / Horeca, with 879 euros.
Trends for 2022: increased employee mobility, challenges for recruiters to attract the right candidates and the launch of new fringe benefits
Recruitment will also pose challenges for employers in 2022, given the labor shortage in the Romanian market. In addition, 67% of Romanian employees plan to change jobs in 2022, according to the BestJobs report, after 62% in 2021 felt that stress levels had increased and well-being had become a priority in job selection.
As the number of jobs grows and demand for labor outstrips supply, companies are having to go the extra mile to attract as well as retain the right professionals.
45% of recruiters believe they will find it harder to attract candidates in 2022 compared to the past two years.
For 2022, 52% of employees expect a salary increase and 35% of HR professionals expect increases of between 10 and 15%. Among the fringe benefits that candidates want are transportation allowance (39%), performance bonuses (38%), participation in personal development programs (30%) and private health insurance or membership in a private medical clinic (29%).
In addition to salary increases and extended benefits, recruiters are considering strengthening employer branding strategies, along with facilitating wellbeing programs, to ensure employee well-being.
Employees’ expectations of their employer in 2022 include the need to see their work valued (69%), to have a better work-life balance (29%), and the freedom to choose where to work (27%). Added to this is the expectation that the employer will be flexible about the form of collaboration (CIM, PFA or SRL), especially for recruiting senior IT staff.
“The labor market in 2022 looks favorable for candidates, who are now in a position to set new trends in the way they work, but also in the benefits they obtain. As a partner in recruitment, we are ready to support the needs of the players, both on the recruiters’ and employees’ side, providing them with the best tools to facilitate the meeting of their needs”, says Andrei Frunză, CEO BestJobs Romania.
BestJobs is an online recruitment platform in Romania. With over 20 years of experience in the field, BestJobs has been involved in transforming and innovating the online recruitment industry and today integrates cutting-edge digital technologies and recruitment-related services to provide the most effective solutions for hiring, recruitment and professional and personal development. On BestJobs there are over 4.6 million professionals connected to the job market, over 30,000 jobs and thousands of freelancers, recruiters, coaches, mentors, therapists, lawyers and other professionals.