A total of 19% of the Romanian employers plan to add to their payrolls in the fourth quarter of the year while 13% anticipate a headcount decrease, and 66% forecast no change, according to the latest quarterly Manpower Employment Outlook Survey.

The seasonally adjusted Net Employment Outlook stands at +11%. Hiring prospects are 3 percentage points weaker when compared with the previous quarter, and 2 percentage points lower year-over-year.

“Employer optimism, though weaker than in the July-September 2016 interval, is similar to the steady, favorable levels reported in Q1 and Q2/2016, so the relative weakening of the Net Employment Outlook is by no means the indicator of an unfavorable labor market,” said Corina-Bianca Gonteanu, Strategic Director of Marketing Europe, ManpowerGroup.

According to Gonteanu, the upcoming parliamentary elections could be the reason why local employers tend to take a more cautious approach.

Payrolls are expected to increase in eight of 10 industry sectors and six of the eight regions during the October-December period, according to the Manpower report. The strongest labor market is expected by Manufacturing sector employers, who report a Net Employment Outlook of +32%. Payroll growth is also anticipated in the Wholesale and Retail Trade sector (+25%), and the Mining and Quarrying sector (+7%).

On the other hand, hiring perspectives are negative in two of the 10 sectors, namely Electricity, Water, Gas, where the -10% Outlook is the least optimistic reported since the third quarter of 2013, and the Construction sector (-3%).

By regions, opportunities for job-seekers are most likely to be favorable in the Center, where the Net Employment Outlook is +18%. Hiring prospects are 5 percentage points weaker when compared to the previous quarter, but improve by 4 percentage points year-over-year. Moreover, the +17% Outlook in Bucharest and Ilfov is 5 percentage points stronger than last year, and remains relatively stable compered to Q3/2016.

Employers in the South region, where the Net Employment Outlook stands at +2%, report the most notable quarter-on- quarter downward shift, of 19 percentage points. The weakest regional hiring pace is forecast in the South-East region, where employers report an Outlook of -5%, the least optimistic since the first quarter in 2010.

Manpower’s Q4/2016 survey in Romania was conducted by InfoCorp Ltd. between July 22 and July 29 on 627 employers.

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Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com