Last month alone, Computer Generated Solutions Europe, the local IT services division of the US-based CGS, which is currently employing 40 people in Romania, opened a new software development center in Sibiu to be staffed by 100 people.
“The Sibiu-Brasov region has traditionally given very many programmers to the labor market. It’s the same thing in this area as in Timisoara ten years ago, which has now “dried out’, in that demand for IT skills is higher than supply,” says Varujan Pambuccian, the leader of the national minorities group, who is a member and former chairman of the IT&C Committee of the Chamber of Deputies.
“The next IT investment destination was Iasi, but it, too, is ‘drying out’ and Craiova, which mainly hired game developers. Next targets are Brasov and Sibiu and probably Cluj and Targu Mures are next.”
Sibiu has a population of 137,000 according to the preliminary findings of last year’s census, 11.3% fewer than in 2006. However, the region is not lacking in skilled workforce, considering the 25,000 students currently enrolled at the “Lucian Blaga” university of the city.
One of the employers in the region in recent years is enterprise resource planning solutions provider EBS, which has a branch in Sibiu that specializes in Java, .NET and ABAP technologies and provides support the company’s international business.
Pentalog had more than 670 employees last year, working in the offices in Brasov, Bucharest, Iasi and Sibiu and more recently in Cluj Napoca.
Unemployment in Sibiu was 4.39% at the end of February, almost 1% lower than the national average, so that the total number of jobless people was 8,200.
“Foreign investors’ interest in Sibiu is nothing new, as many companies have been outsourcing operations in Romania since 2007 because of much lower workforce costs,” said Marian Bejinariu, manager of recruitment firm Job Connect in Sibiu.
A fresh graduate with no experience makes almost EUR700/month before tax in Sibiu, Brasov, Timisoara and Cluj, according to the salary and perks survey AIMS Salary Map IT. Software architects with at least five years of experience and very good programming skills make more than EUR2,600/month gross.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)