For 2025, the Government has set a quota of 100,000 foreign workers newly admitted to the Romanian labor market. The decision is, however project stage (according to information found on the Ministry of Labor), so the quota has practically not been adopted yet. Work from Asia, an Asian recruitment agency, points out that recruitment is blocked because of this.
Almost 8,000 foreign workers may miss the chance to come and work in Romania
The lack of an approved quota for the current year has led to an unprecedented situation for the Romanian labor market, which has become completely inaccessible to foreign workers who want to work in our country and whose applications are currently being refused by the authorities.
The absence of the approved quota of foreign workers for the current year makes it impossible to continue recruiting the necessary workforce in vital economic sectors such as construction, agriculture, the hospitality industry and transportation. This situation risks creating significant bottlenecks in the economy as the shortage of skilled labor in Romania remains acute. Romanian employers have urgently requested an increase in the quota of foreign workers, given that the one previously set for 2024 has been completely exhausted, which demonstrates the real need for this step.
The General Inspectorate for Immigration rejects requests for employers to issue work permits on the grounds that we do not have an approved quota for 2025. Normally the quota for next year should be approved no later than October of this year.
Given that around 8000 work permits are normally issued in a single month, in the absence of requests to extend these settlements we are talking about almost 8000 foreign workers may miss the chance to come and work in Romania and for which the whole bureaucratic process will have to start again once the new quota is approved.
Risk: Many Asians could take jobs in other countries that have a "fast track" system that streamlines paperwork
This not only blocks the access of these workers to the Romanian labor market, but it also creates the risk that many of them will opt for other EU destinations where the process of obtaining work permits and visas is more efficient. The mechanism known as "fast track", implemented in other EU Member States, allows documents to be processed quickly, considerably reducing waiting times. In contrast, Romania remains in a cumbersome bureaucratic framework, which not only discourages foreign workers but also affects local employers, who are already facing a significant labor shortage.
"At the moment the quota of foreign workers approved for last year is 100% exhausted, and the fact that there is only one draft law at the moment presenting the possibility of a new quota of 100,000 new workersi, it doesn't do us any good. The market's real need is at least 200,000 workers, and the lack of support from the authorities at the moment is making it massively difficultif not make it impossible to bring foreign labor into the country. Thousands of applications for work permits have been refused on this basis since the beginning of the year so far"added Yosef Gavriel Peisakh.
Romania's acute labor shortage can only be alleviated by recruiting and bringing in foreign workers, without which thousands of Romanian businesses will suffer, say Work from Asia.
