“We have Filipino employees in the restaurant, in the kitchen or as maids, we will bring more, because we have reached the conclusion that Romanians do not want to work. A reason might be that they got the taste of the West and maybe where they go they feel their work is valued,” said Radu Fluture, accommodations manager with Teleferic Grand Hotel in Poiana Brasov.
A number of 22 of the 140 employees of the hotel are Filipinos, and the management plans to hire more up to 60.
“They are more dedicated and leave their country because they spent part of their careers either on cruise ships or in the United Arab Emirates where they used to work 18-19 hour days,” Radu Fluture said.
Employees in hotels and restaurants in Romania have historically been the worst paid employees in the economy, and many of the Romanians working such jobs quit to take jobs in factories (considering automotive component manufacturing has developed in the center and the west of the country) or to go work abroad for a six or seven times higher pay.
An employee in the hotel and restaurant sector in Romania earned EUR380 in gross amount (EUR275 in net amount) per month on average last year, almost 70% less than the average wage in the country. Compared with wages in Philippines and Nepal, the average wage in the sector is significantly higher in Romania. The average wage of an employee in Philippines was about EUR135 in gross amount per month in 2014, almost three times lower than the average wage in Romania’s hotel industry and almost five times lower than the average wage in the country.
The process of recruiting Filipinos is not easy, the Teleferic official says. Recruiting a single Filipino can take three to six months.
“We don’t have a Philippines Embassy in Romania, and this makes our recruitment harder. We are working with a recruitment agency there and have our people who conduct the interviews,” Radu Fluture said.
Another hotel in Poiana Brasov that prefers foreign employees to Romanians is Aurelius, part of the Imparatul Romanilor hotel chain. The hotel has Nepalese employees.
“There are situations in Romania when cheap labor is needed. Employers therefore look for personnel not only in Philippines, but also in China, India and Pakistan. Philippines is known for its English language speakers, who are in demand in Romania, and also for cheaper labor,” said Sorin Faur, HR coordinator if audit and tax consultancy firm BDO for Eastern Europe and the Balkans.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)