Bestjobs survey: Most companies in Romania increased salaries in 2023 amid continuing talent shortage

2023 was a challenging year for companies, who struggled to increase employees' wages and provide them with benefits to help them navigate a delicate economic context. In parallel, the need for specialists remained high, as certain positions were difficult to fill.

According to a recent survey by recruitment platform Bestjobs, roughly 80% of employers in Romania increased employees' salaries in 2023. In addition, for 58% of companies, the budget allocated to the extra-salary benefits package was higher this year compared to 2022. For 2024, 53% want to maintain the same benefits package, and 43% plan to expand it.

Salary increases this year were given to the entire team in 40% of cases and to more than half of employees in 38%. In 57% of cases, they were offered based on results, while some companies raised the wages for juniors (48% of cases), seniors (38%), and middle managers (33%).

More than 60% of employers offered salary increases of up to 15%, while 30% offered between 16 and 30%.

For 2024, 6 out of 10 companies plan to grant salary increases, 31% are betting on stagnation, and 5% are considering cost reductions in the event of increased taxation.

"2023 was a difficult one for companies, which faced challenges both economically and in terms of human resources. Thus, HR strategies were divided between the need to retain high-performing employees and to recruit specialists to complement the skills in the teams," said Ana Vișian, marketing manager at Bestjobs.

The survey was conducted in November and December on a sample of 276 companies in Romania.

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