In comparison, the sector employed 560,000 people in 2008, over 65% more than last year, Trade Register data supplied to ZF show.
With last year’s figures, the available workforce in the construction sector was almost the same as in 2002-2003 when the real estate market was not as developed as it is today.
The analysis includes the companies that operate under one of the ‘Construction’ NACE codes.
The constant decline in the number of employees in the construction sector occurred amid a decline of pubic investments in the sector.
“If we raise wages but do not promise to make investments, we will not get results,” says Adriana Iftime, general manager of the federation of construction companies’ association.
To be able to cope with the shortage of labor, construction companies have resorted to importing employees.
Almost 2,000 foreign citizens who secured permits to work in construction in Romania arrived in the country last year. Another step to offset the massive migration of construction workforce abroad was the Emergency Ordinance 114/2018 the government issued at the end of last year. The ordinance introduces a minimum gross wage of 3,000 lei per month for construction workers, which translates into a net wage of about RON2,352 (almost EUR500).
(English version Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)