Private companies in Romania plan to increase salaries by 4.5% on average this year, compared to an average growth of 4.2% in 2016, according to the survey PwC HR Barometer, which was published yesterday.

In April 2016, companies estimated a wage growth of 3.8% for this year.

The highest wage increases are expected in the retail and distribution sector (5.6%). Meanwhile, the banking sector has the lowest wage growth in line (2.5%), according to the survey.

According to PwC, the planned salary increases for 2017 are higher than previously estimated in April 2016 across all sectors analyzed in the study, except for the banking sector.

“The Government’s decision to increase the minimum wage, both in 2016, as well as in 2017, had a major impact in the economic sectors where there is a high percentage of employees paid with the minimum wage. That is the main reason why retail and distribution companies reported the highest average wage increases, as well as why the highest salary increases were recorded for the blue-collar segment, compared with the market average for all staff (5.9% compared to 4.5%),” said Horaţiu Cocheci, Senior Manager, Leader of the Human Resources Consulting Team of PwC Romania.

“Such measures generate also risks for the business sustainability, especially in situations where the increase in salary costs is not correlated with the organizational performance”, he added.

The salary increases in 2016 were also higher than initially planned (4.2% compared to 3.9%), according to PwC.

editor@romania-insider.com