The number of employees in the local business services sector should grow by 60% and pass the 100,000 mark by 2017, according to a study made by business consultancy company KPMG for the Association of Business Service Leaders in Romania (ABSL).

“Analysts estimate that the sector will reach between 150,000 and 300,000 employees in the next five years,” said Florin Grama, president of ABSL Romania, at the Association’s third annual meeting.

This sector has seen an incredible development in Romania over the past 10 years, as in 2014 there were only 100 people working in business services. In 2014, the professionals working in this sector represented 1.9% of the country’s active population and the sector contributed with 1.4% to the gross domestic product (GDP).

About a quarter of the 60,000 people currently working in business services are IT specialists, a similar percentage work in client relations, and half work in financial services and accounting, human resources, and other, according to KPMG, which analyzed the 29 most important companies in the sector. The turnover in this sector was over EUR 1.5 billion in 2014.

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