Romanians are optimistic about their professional situation this year, most of them expecting a change in career or salary increases, according to a study by local online recruitment platform eJobs, conducted between January 1 and February 17 on 1,350 employees.

Over half of respondents (52%) expect salary increases in the next 12 months while 39% plan to change their jobs, hoping for a better professional situation and higher income. According to eJobs, the optimism comes amid positive developments in the labor market in 2016, both in terms of number of jobs and wages, a trend that will continue this year.

The study also reveals that nearly half of Romanians (47%) believe that the number of jobs will increase in the next 12 months. Moreover, 69% of respondents think that the employers’ demand will mainly target skilled labor.

In terms of gender, 52% of men believe that it will be easy for them to find a job this year, versus 46% of the women who participated in the study. The students and young people are also optimistic, with 64% of them hoping to find a job easily in 2017.

When it comes to the employees’ satisfaction at the current job, only 23% of Romanians are happy and very happy with their current job while 54% believe that things could be better. Moreover, 23% say that they are not at all happy at work.

Over 60% of respondents are glad that their workplaces are rather close to their homes, 59% like the fact that their jobs are safe, 55% are ok with their tasks at work, and 54% are happy with the teams they are part of. On the other hand, the promotion opportunities are among the Romanians’ biggest disappointments, 54% of them being unhappy with the opportunities for advancement in the companies where they work.

When it comes to their bosses, 46% are satisfied and very satisfied with the relationship with their direct superiors, and 26% say that the relations are not very good.

More than six in ten respondents said that they were keeping an eye on the job offers on the market, with 31% of them checking recruitment websites every week, and 30% looking for new job offers on a daily basis.

According to the eJobs study, 39% of Romanians plan to change their jobs this year. While a quarter of them plan to do that for financial reasons (better salaries), 27% want to do that because they feel that their current employers fail to use their professional skills at maximum.

Among the criteria Romanian employees have in mind when choosing their employer, there are the salary and the benefits package (86%), the responsibilities and the daily activities (84%), but also the company's flexibility and the work program. Moreover, the company’s image and the employees’ perceptions about it are also important for job seekers.

When it comes to the compromises the Romanians would do to get a job, 70% would accept a higher workload while 63% would go for a smaller work space. However, Romanians are less willing to make compromises related to salary, the benefits package, or the contractual period.

Average net salary, up 8.4% in Romania in December

Romania’s number of skilled employees with work contracts down, unskilled ones up

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