Only 14% of Romanian employers say they intend to add staff to their payrolls in the last quarter of this year, while 13% anticipate a decrease and 69% estimate no change, according to the latest Manpower Employment Outlook Survey. Thus, the seasonally adjusted Net Employment Outlook stands at plus 9% for the third consecutive quarter.

”There haven’t been any dramatic shifts in employer confidence since Q3/2011, although the employment outlook was slightly more conservative in 2013 and early 2014” says Valentin Petrof, ManpowerGroup Romania’s Country Manager.

“Now, we continue to observe the same overall calculated, balanced approach to payroll increases, but the quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year fluctuation within sectors and regions is more pronounced, and the proportion of employers who intend to add to their workforce has gone down by 7 percentage points since the July – September interval," he added.

The strongest hiring opportunities are expected to be seen in finance, insurance, real estate & business services sector, where employers report the most optimistic plans since the first quarter of 2009, and where the net Employment Outlook stands at plus 19%. Also, the market will be favorable for those seeking jobs in transport, storage and communications and in the public and social services sectors, where the net Employment Outlook stands at plus 8% and plus 6% respectively.

Opportunities also exist in manufacturing, but the plus 13% Net Employment Outlook in the sector is 5 percentage points weaker than in the July – September interval, and is decreasing for the second consecutive quarter, according to Manpower.

The weakest hiring plans are reported by the employers in the construction sector. The minus 11% Outlook has returned to negative values, declining by 13 and 5 percentage points from the third quarter of 2014 and fourth quarter of 2013, respectively.

In regional terms, the most confident employers are in the North-West, while the least confident are in the North-East region.

However, the survey reveals that job seekers are more likely to find opportunities in large organizations, with more than 250 employees. Employers in such organizations report a Net Employment Outlook of plus 9%, in line with the national average, but 12 percentage points weaker than last quarter’s optimistic hiring plans.

The Manpower Employment Outlook Survey was conducted between July 21 and July 29 in Romania, on a sample of 625 employers.

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