Countrywide, real salary growth across all industries was 6% on the year in 2020 and companies expect an average growth of 5% in 2021.
The survey covers 408 companies with a total of 114,235 employees and the 2020 editions also considers the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on company practices regarding compensation and benefits.
The pharmaceutical industry remains the most profitable sector, where employees earn 26% above market average, followed by IT (+17%). At the opposite end, employees in retail earn 12% below average and employees in transport earn 4% below average.
Private health insurance, training and recommendation bonuses were the main benefits that recorded growth in 2020.
“2020 is atypical from the point of view of company benefits. With the implementation of work-from-home, organizations have focused on online training. 94% of the companies surveyed offer this type of benefit. Private health insurance as benefits continued their growth trend for the fifth year in a row,”said Silvia Dumitrescu, manager of Mercer Marsh Benefits Romania.
As regards company plans during the pandemic, 1 in 10 employers plans to reduce staff, 54% have changed their plans to hire more staff this year, and 70% have put hiring plans on hold for a limited period while 14% have put hiring plans on hold indefinitely.
Before the pandemic, 6 in 10 companies did not have a work-from-home system and were forced to come up with quick solutions. Moreover, 6% of employers compensate employees for work-from-home related costs and 6% offer other types of support for remote work.
The survey found 15% of employers concluded that work-from-home increased employee productivity.