Foreign investors say they have difficulties in finding the adequate workforce in Romania, according to the most recent FIC Business Sentiment Index, a survey carried out by the Foreign Investors Council (FIC), one of the biggest business organizations representing foreign investors in Romania.

The survey shows, however, an improvement of the foreign investors’ perception on taxation in Romania.

“For the first time since FIC has been compiling this sentiment index (2015), a majority of respondents said that Romania is no longer competitive in terms of the availability of adequate workforce,” reads a FIC press release.

“Two years ago, only a quarter of respondents faced problems on the labor market. Every six months, when publishing the results of the Business Sentiment Index, FIC has warned that this indicator is deteriorating at an alarming rate. We now have clear signs which corroborates with other public data and evidence that this is the new reality,” according to FIC.

Meanwhile, FIC members are more relaxed about the local fiscal system.

“In March 2017, one third of respondents found the Romanian fiscal burden uncompetitive. This was followed by a steep deterioration in September 2017 and March 2018 when two-thirds of respondents expressed a negative opinion about the fiscal system. In our view, this was due to erratic announcements of fiscal policy changes without a proper impact assessment and consultation. In this latest survey we noticed a significant improvement, with only one third of respondents complaining about fiscal issues,” FIC explained.

The FIC Business Sentiment Index continues to show a gap between FIC members expecting higher revenues and business growth in the short-term but being concerned about the lack of infrastructure and stability of the regulatory framework. FIC maintains its position that, in due time, the lack of predictability and of investments will reduce the economy’s competitiveness and long-term growth potential.

The survey is carried out every six months only among FIC members, companies with a total turnover of EUR 40 million and 200,000 employees in 2016.

German investors worried about perspectives in Romania

editor@romania-insider.com