The study, concerning the impact of the POSDRU program for human resource development between 2008 and 2011, says there is no sign of significant improvement in any workforce mobility indicator.
BNS president Dumitru Costin said more jobless people fail to reenter the labor market and employees are more likely to become unemployed. “Romanian institutions ignore the needs of employers when they create requalification programs, so there are zero results. Demand must be optimized with supply; this is why we need an analysis of the labor market in every area, so we know what steps to take,” he explained.
The union center suggests that more resources be allotted to support labor market reinsertion, including pensioners who are still of working age, to stimulate employment among fresh high school and university graduates, to facilitate access to higher education for young people in rural areas, encourage employment in rural areas and reduce the insecurity of jobs in agriculture.
The study also says that security on the Romanian labor market overall is much lower than the security of individual jobs or of employment. “This explains the huge share of employed people who are not looking for a new job. (…) A reform that reduces job or employment security, but does not raise security on the labor market in general is a failed reform,” Costin said.
The reason for the low employment mobility is that the labor market does not offer protection during the transition. Cuts to all forms of welfare, together with the market’s flexibilization, “cannibalize” the labor market. Flexibilization should have been linked with additional protective measures during the period of inactivity, unemployment or temporary employment, says the study.