The association of local independent car service companies (ASSAI) has requested the intervention of the Chinese Embassy in Romania to be able to hire Chinese citizens.

ASSAI plans to start a pilot program for recruiting and relocating 80 people from China. Their salaries would reach EUR 250-300 for people who work in car washes and EUR 500-800 for those who have at least three years of experience as mechanics, reports local Economica.net.

The car repair industry in Romania has been facing a growing labor force shortage in the last five years, according to ASSAI. The industry needs more employees as the number of car registrations in Romania has been increasing. The majority of the newly registered vehicles are used cars, which need repairs at some point. Romania currently has a fleet of over 7.5 million cars, with an average age of 14 years.

Eight in ten car services in Romania work below their capacity due to the lack of qualified personnel, according to ASSAI. Romanian employees in this sector don’t accept salaries below EUR 1,000-1,400. Many of them go work abroad, in countries such as the Netherlands, England, Ireland or Italy.

editor@romania-insider.com