At the end of 2013, 336,000 people were employed in the construction field in Romania, down almost 3% on the year, according to National Statistics Institute data. This shows that a significant share of persons no longer working in this field were employed by major Romanian-held construction companies.
Most layoffs were operated by Hidroconstructia, a company controlled by its management and employees, which last year reached 3,465 employees, a minus of over 2,000 persons. As a matter of fact, the company’s revenue also dropped in 2013, by 4%, to EUR135.7 million, while profit halved to EUR1.9 million. The main reason behind the negative trend is related to the fact that Hidroelectrica, the company’s main client, slashed investment.
Almost 230 persons disappeared from the payrolls of Bucharest building company Straco Group, controlled by brothers Alexandru and Traian Horpos, so that the company ended 2013 with 587 employees. The headcount decrease comes as the builder in 2013 completed two large projects in was involved in together with other construction companies. The company in 2013 posted revenue of EUR140 million, down 29%, while net profit dropped by a third, to EUR0.2 million.
Layoffs were also operated by the two construction companies owned by Bacau businessman Dorinel Umbrarescu, Spedition UMB and Tehnostrade, which reached an average number of 1,229 employees together in 2013, 172 fewer than in 2012.
The other major construction company of Bacau, PA&CO International, controlled by Costel Casuneanu, also made 71 employees redundant, getting to 575 employees last year.
Another construction company of Moldova, Build Corp of Iasi, whose majority stakeholder is George Ivanescu, ended 2013 with 52 employees, four times fewer than in 2012.
The only major Romanian-held builder that did not operate any layoffs, but, on the contrary, hired, in 2013, is Delta ACM, controlled by Florea Diaconu. The company, which has several construction contracts abroad, in 2013 reached 1,562 employees, up almost 4%.
Hidroconstructia, Straco Grup, Build Corp, Tehnostrade, PA&CO International and Spedition UMB did not answer ZF’s request for information on 2013 layoffs by edition close.
The Romanian construction market reached EUR9.6 billion last year, down by around 40% against the boom period. Constructions contributed 7.9% to GDP last year, while they weighed 11% in 2008 and contributed a third to the economic growth of that period, which topped 7%, according to ZF calculations based on data provided by the National Statistics Institute.
Moreover, while Romania in 2013 posted a 3.5% economic increase, the construction industry did not have any contribution. In 2013, the volume of construction works declined by 1.6% against the previous year.
(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)