Uncertain economic climate brings working abroad back into Romanian jobseekers’ attention

With over 10,000 applications registered since September 1, local recruitment platform eJobs Romania says that so far this is the month with the most candidates looking for work abroad.

Although their first choice remains a job in Romania, as well as one that can be done remotely, offers from abroad are an increasingly clear area of interest.

"During the past two years, Romanians looked at the idea of working in another country with uncertainty. Either because, at first, in the context of the pandemic, it seemed safer for them to stay here, or because, subsequently, the labor market in our country miraculously recovered and they had enough options in Romania. But now, the uncertain economic context, inflation, and rising prices have made candidates interested in job offers from abroad," says Bogdan Badea, CEO of eJobs Romania.

The fields with the highest number of applications are in transport & logistics, retail, manufacturing, tourism, services, food industry, construction, and agriculture.

As for the level of work experience that these job-seekers have, most people applying to jobs posted by foreign employers are either mid-level (2-5 years experience) or entry-level (maximum 2 years experience). Next come the very young, with no experience at all, while only 20% of applications are from senior specialists and managers.

"As far as specialists are concerned, we see more and more situations where they apply to jobs overseas, but work remotely and thus remain in Romania. IT specialists and digital marketing specialists are, perhaps the most frequent cases of this kind in recent times," explains Bogdan Badea.

Germany is the country of choice for one third of all those who want to work abroad. The Netherlands, France, Belgium, and the UK are next, while destinations that have dominated Romanians' choices for years, such as Spain and Italy, have been overtaken by countries like Ireland, Austria, Denmark and Norway. New to the ranking is the United Arab Emirates.

"Salary and better living conditions are the main arguments for those who want to emigrate, even for a limited period of time. Those who leave end up earning 3-4 times more than in Romania, in similar jobs and fields," Badea says.

Beyond the experience they need to have in a particular field, employers are mainly looking for university graduates and skilled workers. As for the languages they need to master, the most common ones mentioned in the job postings are English, German, Finnish, French, and Spanish.

32,000 jobs are currently active on eJobs.ro. Of these, almost 3,000 are for candidates who want to work in a country other than Romania.

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