The number of employees almost doubled in 2008-2015, while the number of stores more than quadrupled. Therefore, the average number of employees per store dropped to less than half. Out of the ten networks analyzed by ZF, eight have fewer employees per store today. The only network to have increased the average number of employees per store is Profi, while Lidl kept the number constant.
“The significant differences (in terms of number of employees per store i.e.) are because of the changes on the market in the last few years (…) The fiercer and fiercer competition and the lower purchasing power caused a decline in the sales per store,” says Oana Botolan Datki, SEE managing partner with HR consultancy firm Consulteam.
“The only solution foreign retailers resorted to was cost cutting. This meant personnel cutbacks, as well.”
The consumer spending decline of 2009-2011 has not been offset yet, Oana Botolan Datki says, and the increasingly fierce fight over customers led to layoffs.
Consumer spending rose by 8.9% last year. Retail sales, the main indicator of consumer spending still has 1.6% to recover to revert to the 2008 level, one of the best years of the local economy, according to ZF’s calculations.
Modern retail is one of the most important sectors of Romania’s economy, with EUR10 billion annual revenue.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)