Work from Asia, one of the world's best-known recruiters of foreign workers, is calling on the authorities to help combat the phenomenon of foreign workers fleeing their jobs.
In the context of the lack of legislation providing sanctions for foreign employees who come to Romania to work and then fraudulently breach their employment contracts in order to reach the Schengen area, the Asian recruitment and placement agency Work from Asia is asking the authorities to help stop this alarming phenomenon.
"Lately we are receiving more and more reports of foreigners running away. Last week, for example, every day we had a worker who ran away. It is very difficult as a foreign employment and recruitment agency to operate in these conditions, without a legal framework to protect against this alarming phenomenon. There must be consequences.
If you commit to come to Romania to work and you decide to leave, normally you should not be able to apply for a work visa once you breach it. Unfortunately there are no repercussions," said Yosef Gavriel Peisakh, General Manager Work from Asia.
As well as the lack of clear penalties for such crimes, another reason why more and more foreign workers are choosing to flee our country is the lack of sanctions against migrant smuggling networks that have taken the internet by storm.
"They flee because they know from the start that it is easy to leave Romania for Schengen. They apply in Romania, where they come and stay for a few months to a year, while others don't even stay, they flee from the airport. There are foreign workers who collect money and pay some traffickers so that they can cross the border illegally, because they do not have exit visas or the necessary documents. Under these circumstances, it is very difficult for us, the placement and recruitment agencies, to deal with these situations," added Yosef Gavriel Peisakh.
Work from Asia is one of the most important Asian recruitment agencies in Romania, a company that since 2010 has been supplying foreign labor for almost any business field. The scope of the company's services covers foreign workers for: HoReCa, agriculture and zootechnics, construction, car servicing, domestic staff (nannies, maids, drivers), as well as the garment and textile industry.
The main reason why most foreign workers prefer to come to Romania is money, with salaries in our country being up to three times higher than they could have earned in their home country. So foreign staff are motivated to work in the country and they have the stability offered by the employment contract,, Here, salaries are two or even three times higher, in some cases, than these workers could have earned in their home countries, which of course motivates them. Another clear contractual advantage is the provision of board and lodging by the employer," added Yosef Gavriel Peisakh.
In terms of employers' reasons for opting to import labor, the top reasons are the entrepreneurs' need for stable staff in the context of the massive migration of Romanian staff and the determination of Asian employees to perform as well as possible at work in order to support the families they leave behind.
The Philippines and Indonesia are the countries that have recently delivered a very large number of foreign workers to Romania, territories where the processing of work visas is now faster and not as long as the 8-month waiting period in other Asian countries.
