Survey: Four out of 10 Romanian employees are unhappy with their pay, but not many negotiate a raise

Almost 40% of respondents to a recent eJobs survey said they are unsatisfied with their salary, while 49.8% stated the pay is okay but could be better. Only 10.7% of employees have no reason for dissatisfaction.

However, according to eJobs, a possible salary renegotiation seems to be a solution for a fairly small percentage of employees, given that they do not think they could come up with arguments to convince managers to grant the desired increase. Most respondents (42%) said a discussion in this sense could bring them a maximum increase of 10%, 37.7% think they could get between 10% and 20%, and 13.1% between 20% and 30%.

"Many candidates complain that they are not good salary negotiators and that such a discussion with their manager causes them heightened discomfort. This happens not only when conducting the interview from the employee's position but also in the final stages of recruitment," said Ana Călugăru, Head of Communications within eJobs.ro, a leading online recruitment platform in Romania.

"That's why, for example, almost half of the respondents said that, throughout their careers, they received most salary hikes without asking for them. 35.3% received them only after asking, while for 16.6%, it is difficult to make an estimate," she added.

Around 32% of respondents said that although they try to negotiate, they rarely get the desired amount. 20.9% admit that they do not like and do not manage to negotiate at all, which is why they always accept the offer proposed by the employer. Less than a third believe they are doing very well since they almost always managed to get the amounts they wanted.

The same survey also found that 39.6% of employees have not negotiated their salary since employment, while 19.5% did so at the beginning of the year. More than a year has passed since the last negotiation for 18.4% of respondents, and 6.5% went through this stage in the last month. Meanwhile, 15.8% said they don't even remember the last time this happened.

When they want a salary increase, 54.6% adopt the classic method of presenting their recent professional achievements to the manager. 14.8% say directly that they no longer feel motivated by the current salary, 10% justify the request by the increase in prices, and the same number do preliminary research on the market and present the data to the manager.

On the other hand, if they do not receive the expected salary increase, 41% of employees start looking for a new job, and 23.9% even tell their manager that they will begin taking steps in this direction. 22.6% say they understand the situation and are therefore waiting for a time when things will be better financially for the company. Almost 10% consider a refusal from the manager as a solid demotivating factor.