Construction market in Romania lacks 150,000 specialized workers

“According to the latest reports, there are 360,000 workers on building sites in Romania, which implies a serious shortage. The necessary specialized workers are outside the country. The latest figures show that there are more than 100,000 construction workers outside Romania, in Israel, Germany, Spain and Italy,” said Marin Cristea, general manager of the Romanian Association of Building Entrepreneurs (ARACO).
On a construction market growing by 30 percent year-on-year, the number of Romanian workers in the field is decreasing. “Several years ago, there were 800,000 workers in the construction in Romania, compared to 300,000 registered workers at the moment, plus 100,000 personnel working without legal papers,” said Gheorghe Polizu, president of the Romanian Alliance of the Construction Employers' Confederation.
The Ministry of Education, Research and Youth together with ARACO and Cement Industry Association (CIROM) are planning to close a partnership for fully financing an education program of 8,000 places for several construction specializations.
Local construction companies have been complaining about the lack of qualified construction workers, but no official numbers to mirror the deficit had been issued.
Some foreign companies have even brought personnel from their home countries to cover the deficit, both in lower positions, but also engineers. Romanian construction workers are mainly working in Spain, Italy, and Portugal.

Magda Purice