{"id":121450,"date":"2017-12-05T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-12-04T22:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/anca-nedea-labor-shortage-only-solvable-via-legislative-change\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T11:56:26","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T09:56:26","slug":"anca-nedea-labor-shortage-only-solvable-via-legislative-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/anca-nedea-labor-shortage-only-solvable-via-legislative-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Anca Nedea: Labor Shortage Only Solvable via Legislative Change"},"content":{"rendered":"
High salary taxes mean a Romanian hotel employee earns much less than one in a competing destination like Greece, even if the salary budgets are often identical, stated Anca Nedea, the new executive director of the Mamaia-Constanta Employers’ Organization.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
She argues that the labor shortage can only be resolved through legislative change, as taxes and duties levied on employees and employers represent, according to the cited source, an additional 75% on top of the net salary. Furthermore, no special derogations are issued for tourism employees to allow them to work weekends without being paid double and receiving two consecutive days off.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
The organization met with representatives of the Ministry of Labor and the Territorial Labor Inspectorate for discussions on this matter, without result.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
These statements come as some hoteliers and restaurant owners attempt to cope with the tourism labor crisis by bringing in employees from Nepal or the Philippines.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Asked if tourism employees are leaving because they are poorly paid, Nedea claims things are no longer quite like that and that salaries have increased in recent years, but not sufficiently.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
According to her, most hoteliers on the coast worked this summer with only 2-3 maid placement agencies, for which everyone “fought,” from those in the south of the coast to those in Mamaia.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
“Contracts were made with the company that provided the women, and they cleaned rooms; they weren’t at your disposal in the hotel. Eventually, these maids gave out mentally and physically due to the huge workload, and their numbers dwindled. During the peak season in August, there were effectively countless situations where tourists waited a long time at reception to check in because the rooms hadn’t been cleaned yet,” Nedea stated.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
One proposal from the organization was for coastal hotels to commit to paying employees during the off-season, for up to 6 months, to keep them over the winter, but during this interval, the hotel should be exempt from paying state taxes.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Regarding the idea of bringing in labor from abroad, the head of the employers’ organization says it is difficult to achieve, also due to legislation. Given the low salary levels compared to other EU states, the only countries from which employees can be brought are those outside the Union, including the Republic of Moldova, in which case those coming would have an advantage as they know the Romanian language.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
At the same time, Radu Enache, owner of the Continental chain with nearly 1,900 rooms, believes it is more advantageous to increase the salaries of Romanian employees to retain them than to bring in labor from abroad, given that the Romanian state has not clearly regulated such “imports.”<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
On average, in a single year, staff turnover in a Romanian hotel exceeds 30%, and employees either move from one accommodation unit to another, change fields, or leave the country. On the other hand, the industry tourism is recognized as one of the lowest-paying sectors.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
“I believe I can secure my staff from Romania. I prefer to increase salaries, and next year I will raise them by an average of over 5%, and as an effect, I expect to have a staff turnover of only 20-22%, which I accept,” stated Radu Enache.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
He added that all his employees have employment contracts and are paid based on performance criteria, benefiting from a bonus system.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
He estimates that bringing in foreigners to work in the hotel is a much more arduous and, ultimately, more expensive solution than trying to keep Romanian employees.<\/div>\n

Frequently Asked Questions<\/h3>\n

Why is there a labor shortage in Romanian tourism?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The shortage is driven by high salary taxes (75% on top of net pay), low wages compared to other EU destinations, and high staff turnover exceeding 30% annually.<\/p>\n

What legislative changes are being proposed?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Proposals include reducing salary taxes to match competitor countries and allowing tax exemptions for hotels that pay staff during the 6-month off-season to ensure retention.<\/p>\n

Is importing foreign labor a viable solution?<\/strong><\/p>\n

While some hotels look to Nepal or the Philippines, experts suggest it is often more cost-effective to raise local wages due to complex regulations and high costs associated with foreign recruitment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

High salary taxes mean a Romanian hotel employee earns much less than one in a competing destination like Greece, even if the salary budgets are often identical, stated Anca Nedea, the new executive director of the Mamaia-Constanta Employers’ Organization. She argues that the labor shortage can only be resolved through legislative change, as taxes and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":66995,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2858],"tags":[],"thb-sponsors":[],"class_list":["post-121450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tourism"],"article_style_override":"","post-style":"","post_via":"","post-top-image":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/turism-2.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121450\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66995"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121450"},{"taxonomy":"thb-sponsors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rhn.ro\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/thb-sponsors?post=121450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}