Hundreds of Romanian workers show up at the job fair held by the Romanian government in Italy

More than 200 Romanians who work in Italy and want to return to their home country were present this morning at the job fair organized by the Romanian authorities in Rome.

The event focuses especially on workers in constructions and it is managed by Romania's Ministry of Labor and the Labor Force Agency.

Seven companies which mostly come from Western Romania are offering 1,500 jobs in engineering both for skilled and unskilled workers.  The Labor Force Agency also provides some 6,000 jobs in constructions, according to Cabinet secretary, Akos Derszi.

More Romanians are estimated to show up in the evening, Romanian Labor Minister Paul Pacuraru said, adding that the event has been successful so far. Pacuraru also mentioned that such fairs could be organized in Milan and Turin where the Romanian communities are larger as well as in Spain.

The Romanian government plans to start a campaign to inform Romanians about not accepting work when not offered legal forms.  The Romanian embassy will provide counseling on the matter.

Employers who came to lure Romanian workers back in the country generally offer salaries from 400 to more than 1,000 euros. Workers said they are not willing to return for less than 1,300-1,500 euros per month.

Some 17,000 Romanian workers are active in the constructions industry, in Italy's Lazio-Rome area.

At the end of 2007 Pacuraru met in Brussels with his Italian counterpart Cesare Damiano to discuss the lack of labor force in Romania and the abundance of Romanian workers in Italy.

The two officials agreed to draft a plan which would determine Romanian workers in Italy to return home. One of the options would be for Italian companies in Romania to hire Romanian workers from Italy, Damiano said.

The two officials declined to mention other measures yet Damiano talked about the possible usage of the European Social Fund and investing in the training of workers who would return in Romania.