A total of 19% of the employers in Romania plan to add to their payrolls in the first quarter of 2017, 13% foresee a decrease in staffing levels, and 66% don’t anticipate any change, according to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey.

The survey was conducted by interviewing a representative sample of 625 employers in Romania. All participants were asked, “How do you anticipate total employment at your location to change in the three months to the end of March 2017 as compared to the current quarter?”

The Net Employment Outlook stands at +15%, and is the strongest for eight years, according to Manpower. Employers report a quarter-on-quarter improvement of 3 percentage points while year-on-year the Outlook is 5 percentage points stronger.

“Employers have been expressing confidence for several consecutive quarters, and reported double-digit Net Employment Outlooks for the past six, evidence of a dynamic, fast-paced labor market. First quarter hiring perspectives have never been stronger in the history of the Romanian study, which means more opportunities for job-seekers, but also an increase in the competition for talent in a market that’s already one of the most affected by talent shortage,” said Corina-Bianca Gonteanu, Strategic Director of Marketing Europe, ManpowerGroup.

Payrolls are expected to increase in eight of the ten industry sectors and seven of the eight regions between January and March 2017. The strongest industry forecast was reported by employers in the Manufacturing sector, where the Outlook stands at +33%, strengthening over the fourth quarter of 2016 by 1 percentage point, and over the first quarter of 2016 by 13 percentage points.

On the other hand, hiring intentions in the Mining and Quarrying sector weakened both year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter by a considerable 10 and 7 percentage points, respectively. Thus, at -1%, the Net Employment Outlook reported by employers in Mining and Quarrying is the weakest since the second quarter of 2012. The employers in the Electricity, Gas and Water Supply sector also report a negative Net Employment Outlook, of -2%.

Based on regions, the Net Employment in the West stands at +22%, being strongest in almost two years. The employers in the North-West also continue to be optimistic, reporting a Net Employment Outlook of +16%, similar to the one reported by the employers in the South region.

Meanwhile, hiring intentions decline steeply in the South-West region, when compared to the first quarter of 2016, the Net Employment Outlook of -5% being the weakest and only negative Outlook in the country.

The Manpower study also shows that hiring perspectives are optimistic across organizations of all sizes. In large organizations, the Net Employment Outlook stands at +26%, the strongest in almost nine years (since the second quarter of 2008). The employers in employers in micro and medium organizations report Outlooks of +10%, respectively +14% for the first quarter of 2017, while employers in small organizations report a Net Employment Outlook of +6%.

The Net Employment Outlook is derived by taking the percentage of employers anticipating an increase in hiring activity and subtracting from it the percentage of employers expecting to see a decrease.

Romanian employers show positive but moderate hiring intentions for the fourth quarter

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