Most new jobs in Romania cluster around Bucharest and 4 counties, report says
Bucharest and Ilfov, Cluj, Iași, Brașov, and Timișoara were the counties with the most new job openings in the first nine months of the year. The fewest options for candidates came from employers in Ialomița, Mureș, and Brăila, according to a report by online recruitment platform eJobs.
All in all, over 230,000 new jobs were posted in the same period to the eJobs platform. Half of these came from employers in Bucharest and Ilfov, with over 110,000 opportunities available in the capital alone. With nearly 40,000 so far this year, Cluj is the second county with the most job offers, though significantly behind Bucharest. Iași ranks third with 34,000 jobs, followed by Brașov (29,000) and Timiș (28,000).
"Compared to the same period last year, overall there has been a roughly 15% decrease in available jobs, and a shift in rankings between Brașov and Timiș. In 2023, Timiș ranked fourth, just after Bucharest, Cluj, and Iași, but this year Brașov and Ilfov have overtaken it," said Bogdan Badea, CEO of eJobs.ro.
On the other hand, counties where candidates had the fewest job opportunities were Ialomița, Mureș, Brăila, Argeș, and Neamț. "From this perspective, the ranking is almost identical to the first nine months of 2023. It’s interesting that it’s not just one region of the country but, rather, each geographical area has at least one county where competition among candidates is very high. Additionally, salaries in these counties are approximately 15% to 20% below those in larger counties," explained Bogdan Badea.
In regions where fewer than 20,000 new jobs were posted this year, such as Ialomița, Mureș, Brăila, Argeș, Neamț, and Bihor, retail, the food industry, transport/logistics, services, and tourism are the main sectors looking for candidates. "These are almost exclusively jobs that require physical presence at the workplace, targeting mostly entry-level candidates. This does not necessarily mean only young candidates at their first job, but also those over 45 who are willing to change fields or take up positions that do not require experience," added Bogdan Badea.
Retail remains the largest employer in the top counties as well, but other fields also appear, such as call centers/BPO, construction, manufacturing, financial services, or IT. "There's a constant transfer of talent and specialists from small towns to large ones, as they have more employment opportunities and, obviously, better salaries," Bogdan Badea elaborated.
The capital accounts for half of the total number of applications registered from January to the end of September, with 4.5 million. Cluj is in second place with 1.4 million, followed by Ilfov (1.3 million), Timiș (1.2 million), Iași, and Brașov (both with 1.1 million). The least interest from candidates was in jobs in Neamț, Maramureș, Suceava, Arad, and Galați.
(Photo source: Fizkes | Dreamstime.com)
