eJobs 2023 report: Highest-paid employees in Romania are in Bucharest, work in IT

The latest Review & Trends report released by recruitment platform eJobs found that, in 2023, the highest-paid employees in Romania were located in Bucharest. Moreover, regardless of their location, the best-paid worked in IT.

Romania had over 5.7 million active employees in 2023. According to data from the Review & Trends report, 29.2% had a salary between RON 3,001 and 4,000, 26.1% earned between RON 4,001 and 7,000, and 21.1% between RON 2,001 and 3,000. Roughly 7.8% had a monthly salary below RON 2,000, 10.3% between RON 7,001 and 10,000, and 5.5% over RON 10,000.

The best paid in 2023 were employees from Bucharest, with a net monthly average of RON 5,000. The average includes all fields of activity and all levels of experience and professional training.

Timis county was second with a monthly net average of RON 4,700, followed by Cluj - RON 4,500, and Ilfov, Iasi, Brașov, Sibiu, and Satu Mare - all with RON 4,000.

At the other end of the scale, with a net average of RON 3,100 per month, Caras-Severin is the county with the lowest wages in Romania. Also in the same list are Gorj, Ialomita, and Valcea - all three with recorded averages of RON 3,200, Vaslui - RON 3,300, Covasna and Vrancea - RON 3,400, and Calarasi, Teleorman, and Mehedinti - RON 3,500.

By profession, regardless of their location, IT employees continued to be the highest-paid in Romania in 2023 – RON 6,500 per month. Those in project management and research/development had, on average, salaries of RON 6,000 per month, those in management RON 5,500, while the average monthly wage in construction/installations was RON 5,000.

The lowest averages were reported by those working in the beauty services sector - RON 3,000 per month, au pair/babysitting/cleaning - RON 3,000, office/back-office/secretariat - RON 3,100, clothing - RON 3,300, and tourism - RON 3,400.

“Wages and how they have evolved or stagnated has been one of the most talked about topics in 2023, especially as the end of the year came with a package of tax changes that affected four areas with strong annual hiring volumes: IT, construction, food, and agriculture. From November 1, the income tax exemption for those working in these fields was eliminated. Still, the average salary in the economy increased in 2023 to RON 4,692, from RON 3,949 in 2022,” said Bogdan Badea, CEO of eJobs.

In 2023, the most sought-after jobs on eJobs were for driver - for which the average salary is RON 3,800 per month, nurse - RON 4,500, call center operator - RON 2,800, accountant - RON 3,700, engineer - RON 4,800, and economist - RON 4,500.

These averages were taken from the more than 700,000 salaries recorded by employees in Salario, the eJobs-branded salary comparator.