After restaurants and construction, companies in the car industry are also starting to hire more foreign workers.
Employers can no longer find specialists to work in car repair shops because they prefer to go to other countries for higher wages. And drivers who need their cars fixed wait weeks for their turn.
Manir is a mechanic who came from Nepal 4 years ago. He tells us he has been working in this field for 11 years and doesn't want to change jobs.
Manir Shaikh, foreign employee: "It is very good. I like it here. I'm happy with my work, with my salary. I send my salary to my family every month. My family is in Nepal. My mom, dad, wife and children."
More and more workers from Asia prefer Romania for the wages, which in some cases are up to three times higher than in their home countries.
Manoj Nepali, foreign employee: "My children are in Nepal and I came with my wife to Romania and we send the money to Nepal. What I do here is good for me. Before I worked in Dubai and then I came to Romania and I like it here."
Due to labor shortages, more and more car service shop owners have started hiring workers from Asia. For example, in this car service out of 14 employees, five are foreign workers. They are two mechanics and three apprentices.
Andrei Ionescu, general manager of a car service: "We have had foreign workers for 4 years, progressively, last year another boy came, now we are about to hire another mechanic. We have checked them before, we have asked for information from their state and from their former employers and for us they are valuable people".
Due to staff shortages, many people who need to take their cars in for servicing are put on a waiting list.
Yosef Gavriel Peisakh, managing director of an Asian recruitment agency: "As a rule, the shortage comes because Romanians go abroad and automatically there is a higher demand for employees, they can't find people to hire or they hire people who come and stay for a month and then go elsewhere, there are very high fluctuations. Specialists from Romania are looking to work in other countries for much higher salaries, more than double".
Official data show that about 440,000 Romanians are inactive on the labor market although they could be working. Also, two out of ten young people up to the age of 24 do not have a job.
