With the accession of our country to the Schengen area, a number of legislative and procedural changes were implemented, but the whole process of accession has also had negative consequences for the Romanian labor market, where importing personnel is the only valid solution for a large number of Romanian employers. Currently, about 351TPTP3T of the total number of foreign workers employed in Romania have already chosen to leave the country to build a new future in other Schengen countries.
The problem of foreign workers who choose to flee the country affects both foreign recruitment agencies and Romanian employers, who have put their trust in importing labor to cover the massive shortage facing the Romanian labor market.
"Many of the workers who have arrived in Romania or those who only receive a work visa now also valid for Schengen are leaving the country. We are talking here about workers who do not even come to our country because they want to earn more money than they can earn in Romania. According to our estimates, from the date of Romania's entry into Schenghen until now, about 35-40% of foreign workers have already left the country," said Yosef Gavriel Peisakh, General Manager of the foreign recruitment agency WORK FROM ASIA.
The staff shortage is increasing from one year to the next, but the chances of resolving it are decreasing dramatically without measures to address this recent phenomenon of foreign workers choosing to leave the country in favor of more developed economies. The authorities need to be involved in developing measures capable of securing job vacancies in the country and facilitating the process of bringing foreign workers to Romania.
Workers who leave Romania usually already have a temporary residence permit valid for one or two years. Of course, they expose themselves to enormous risks, because they can be recognized and stopped at the borders by the control bodies, in this case the Border Police and the officers of the Romanian Immigration Inspectorate. With the newly launched eDAC application, within a few seconds of scanning their identity documents, the control authorities can now see their current status and it is clearly explained to foreign citizens that they can stay in the Schengen area for a maximum of 90 days as tourists, with the status of tourists, without the right to work in the country. What is more, they risk losing their fundamental rights, and we are talking here about social protection, job security, non-compliance with working hours and rest periods. Sadly, workers will also no longer be able to complain about abuses by the authorities or receive free medical care. "said Yosef Gavriel Peisakh.
Unfortunately, even from the bureaucratic point of view, the process of bringing foreign workers to Romania is not free of additional problems, with the accession to the Schengen area, and the process of bringing foreign labor to the country is even more complicated than before.
"First of all, the visa procedure has become even more cumbersome, because in addition to the approval of the National Visa Center (NVC) in Romania, the validation of the Schenghen countries is now also expected, which makes the process even longer. In addition, staff in Romanian consulates have become much more rigorous and attentive in personal interviews with applicants and the rejection rate has increased. Employers, who are in dire need of labor, complain that the process after the final selection of candidates is taking longer and longer, in some cases up to a year", added Yosef Gavriel Peisakh.
Among the methods identified by employers to remedy this phenomenon was a clear and well-structured information campaign launched by the Romanian authorities to inform foreign citizens about the risks they face when fraudulently terminating their employment contracts and leaving the country. Moreover, it is necessary for this campaign to be conducted in a language of international circulation, such as English, so that the delivery of the information is both easy and effective.
In addition, the recruitment agency WORK FROM ASIA identifies as a preventive measure the existence of a common database at the level of the Schengen Member States, which would contain information on the status of the employment contract of foreign workers, namely whether they have employment contracts terminated in Romania by mutual agreement of the parties or whether they have the consent of the last employer to hire them elsewhere.
