The workforce shortage on the Romanian labor market: Attempts to compensate through the admission of foreign quotas

Lazar, Cristina and Bostan, Ionel and Asalos, Nicoleta (2025): The workforce shortage on the Romanian labor market: Attempts to compensate through the admission of foreign quotas. Forthcoming in: Proceedings from International Scientific Conference “Human Resource Management”, 25 April 2025, University of Economics-Varna (BG), ISSN:2815-5084. , Vol. 1, No. 1 (15 October 2025): pp. 1-12.

Abstract

Romania is facing a structural labor shortage, caused by factors such as demographic decline, massive external migration, an aging active population, and the mismatch between the education system and labor market demands. In this context, one of the solutions identified by the authorities is the controlled admission of quotas of foreign workers. This article analyzes the measures adopted to facilitate the legal import of labor and follows recent developments concerning the employment and posting of non-EU citizens in Romania, in parallel with trends in repeatedly declared vacant jobs. It presents relevant statistical data for the period 2021–2024 and puts forward concrete proposals for making the work permit and visa system more flexible, simplifying administrative procedures, and incentivizing employers through fiscal measures. The goal is to help balance the labor market and mitigate the negative effects of migration by promoting a model of legal and sustainable mobility that benefits both the national economy and foreign workers and their countries of origin.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Romania, labor market balance, deficit, labor import, quotas of foreign workers.
• Subjects: J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J0 - General > J08 - Labor Economics Policies; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J11 - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Demand and Supply of Labor > J21 - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J2 - Demand and Supply of Labor > J23 - Labor Demand; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J6 - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers > J61 - Geographic Labor Mobility ; Immigrant Workers

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