In countries such as Switzerland, Denmark and the Czech Republic the percentage is twice as high, show statistics of CNIPMMR, the organization that advocates the rights of small and medium-sized companies. The statistics are based on comparative Eurostat data from 2010 (when the latest comparative statistics were put together for EU countries). With a population of 31 million inhabitants and 2.9 million people working in the private sector, according to the same comparative statistics, the situation of the Romanian labor market shows there continue to be more socially assisted than taxpayers, so the country’s economic model is not sustainable in the long run.
The situation has not significantly improved, although population statistics changed following the census in October 2011: there are 4.3 million employees in the economy (1.2 million of whom are public sector employees and 3.1 million are employees of private companies), while the total population is 19 million.
The dramatic decline in the number of taxpayers in the last few years has been a problem that politicians have never talked about in election campaigns, although finding a balance making the state sustainable should be a priority for the government, explains Adrian Moraru, deputy director of the Institute for Public Policies (IPP).
“We are not concerned with the number of unemployed, but to the number of employees in the private sector, because they fuel the economy, and their low share to the total population makes the state non-functional.”
The disastrous statistics regarding the share of employees in the private sector to the overall population have been brought up again by the representatives of CNIPMMR, who say that the government’s major priority should be to increase the workforce employment rate in Romania by increasing the number of employees in the private sector.
According to Adrian Moraru of IPP, in the last 20 years no-one has been concerned about those who could have added value to the Romanian economy, but went abroad the country for better-paid jobs, leaving behind the unqualified employees who earn low wages. To these add the public sector employees who, despite creating added value through the services they provide to the population, they are a cost to the state and do not fuel the economy.
(English version by Daniela Stoican)