Romanians continue to look for better-paid jobs abroad, even if the difference between what they get abroad and salaries in Romania is shrinking. Many turn to the EURES network, making direct contact with employers. What is offered during this period and for what money.
Welders are among the sought-after specialists in the country and abroad PHOTO: Pixabay
The EURES network is the means by which the public employment service connects jobseekers with employers in the European Union, plus Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway. The list of jobs available in these countries includes during this period almost 3 million jobs announced by employers to public employment services. The counselors from the Eures network, which you can find within the county employment agencies, also have a list of vacant jobs in the countryside only for people looking for a job in Romania. Friday, November 1, 2024, this list includes 148 vacancies, most in Germany – 60, Latvia – 30, Austria – 26, Belgium – 16, but also jobs offered by employers in Slovenia, Malta, France, Ireland etc.
Offers are increasing for skilled people, a trend that has been observed for some time, as employers find it increasingly difficult to find skilled workers.
Bus Driver, Production Worker, Forklift Operator, Metal Worker, Electrician jobs available from Germany and welder. From Latvia all available places are for welders. Qualified workers are also sought in other countries, with employers offering, in addition to salary, various benefits. For citizens of other countries, most employers either offer support for finding a place to stay, or even partially support such costs.
Eures advisor from AJOFM Olt, Anca Iordache, provided some data on what foreign employers offer. We compared, for example, the offer for welders from Germany with that of the employer in Latvia.
In Latvia the salary starts from 1,400 euros and can reach 2,000 euros, gross amount, the positions being available in a unit where you work in shifts, including night shift. The employer also offers assistance in finding accommodation, with the possibility of being accommodated in shared rooms, located 10 minutes’ walk from the workplace. There is a 50% discount for lunch, and free access to the gym, tea and coffee, all available during meal breaks. The employer instead requires the workers to have experience and to know English at a conversational level.
In Germany, welders are offered from 16 euros/h, gross, which means a basic gross salary starting at 2,500 euros/month. Benefits include a Christmas bonus, holiday allowance, 30 days of holiday per year and support in finding a home. The contract is concluded for an indefinite period. Applicants must know German, written and spoken, and be qualified as a welder. Category B driver’s license is also required.
It sometimes happens that employers fail to find the right employees at the “first call” and, upon renewal of the offer, abandon certain requests from the initial offer, it being increasingly obvious that qualified workers, especially those with experience, they are less and less available.
For electricians, the offers are even better. In Germany, electricians are offered 20 euro/h, gross, while in Belgium, where an employer is looking for an electrician for street lighting, for example, the offer is from almost 17 euro/h to 18.3 euro/h, gross amounts. In Belgium too, workers are required to be able to prove their qualification with documents and to have a driving license, but also to know French or English. In Germany, electricians must know German.
In the Netherlands there are offers for workers in greenhouses, ten positions, and the salary starts at 13.68 euros/h.
For production workers, an offer also from Germany, in the field of food production, is addressed to workers willing to undertake the activity of preparing classic sausages, qualification in the butcher trade being an advantage. Instead, it is offered between 12.41 euros and 14.50 euros/h.
For positions with high requirements and offers can be much more generous.
A purchasing manager position is available in Malta, for which between 45,000 Euro and 55,000 Euro/year is offered. For a quality deputy director, the salary is between 24,000 and 29,000 euros/year.
Who applies for mediation through the public employment service
Workers who have used the EURES service at a certain point in order to get to work abroad are later able to create connections there and on their next departure go without the need for an intermediary. Those who come again to AJOFM, also with the intention of going to work abroad, are more of those who want to change the field of activity or the country in which they want to work.
“We also had people who participated in the selection when they were organized and who left through the selections and want to repeat the experience. There is information that these selections, which have not been organized since the pandemic, could be resumed”explains Anca Iordache. It is about selections organized either for a certain field, when the offers from employers in that sector are numerous, or for different fields, but the employers come to the same place.
“It’s much easier for people to come and talk to the employer, see what they have to offer, feel safe in the discussion they have with the employer, than to send their CV and wait for a response”adds the EURES advisor.
In the interaction with the employer, the person looking for a job would also skip the stage of submitting the CV through electronic methods, because in the future, says Anca Iordache, this aspect can be a barrier. Many of those who contact the EURES service need support, either to translate the CV or to send it to the e-mail address etc.
Romanians looking for jobs abroad are today interested in offers in the Netherlands, Norway, Germany, etc. and less of Spain, for example, a favorite destination many years ago.
Counseling and mediation are free through the EURES advisor, and jobs are advertised directly by employers, through the public employment services of the respective countries, without intermediaries, without placement agencies, Anca Iordache also states. “It’s good to have certainties when you decide to take such an important step”, adds the counselor.
