Four out of five young Romanians seek employment abroad

Should the salary increase rates of the past two-three years be maintained, we can expect a good share of the Romanians who leave abroad for better jobs to return by 2010, indicates a Business Standard analysis report quoted by several central dailies. This is already happening as regards highly skilled professionals such as the IT experts, who may already receive in Romania salaries comparable to those paid in the West.

As a rule, the Romanians who leave the country represent competitive, skilled workforce. Graduates account for approx. 10-12 per cent of the total legal emigrants, while over one-quarter is accounted for by high school graduates, according to a 2007 Romanian Academy study titled "The Demographic Decline." The study emphasises that an overwhelming majority of the Romanian youth (four out of five) would choose to work abroad.

Legal migrants generally fall into three major workforce categories. The first segment is the highly skilled labour, in the 25-40 age group, with skills in high technology and science fields, and in several other areas such as education and healthcare. Next comes the average-skilled workforce, with abilities in sectors such as constructions, healthcare, hospitality. Last, there is also the unskilled or semi-skilled workforce, in sectors like agriculture, environmental sanitation, constructions.

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