In a labor market in continuous transformation, marked by digitization and automation, professional reconversion is becoming more and more a necessity, not an option. Jobs that were considered stable just a few years ago are disappearing or radically changing, while others are emerging that require entirely new skills. However, Romania does not seem to adapt to the trend, draw the attention of Human Resources experts.
Why professional retraining is inevitable
How necessary is professional reconversion? “Extremely necessary”says Oana Botolan, expert in organizational consulting and HR strategy. ,,Respectively, over 50% – 60% of the entire employed population at the moment would need reskilling or training”, continue this.
Reskilling it involves learning completely new skills to fill a different role within the same company or in a different industry and makes employees stay relevant in the labor market.
Why is such retraining needed? According to the specialist, the pressure does not come only from the area of artificial intelligence, but from a much larger process of economic transformation.
“We are talking about the digitization and automation of all positions, in general, and everything that the green economy means. New jobs require digital skills that change, new skills all the time,” explains Oana Botolan.
This dynamic makes the idea of a “lifetime job” or “retirement job” less and less realistic. Even if a person stays in the same field, the content of work changes and adaptation is needed.
“Fortunately – or unfortunately – we have to set ourselves and mentally prepare ourselves that we will have to learn all our lives from now on and adapt. Just as we had to adapt to use smart phones and the internet, now we have to constantly learn the same kind of leaps, more and more, regardless of the job in which we work. That is, we can’t imagine that if we stayed in our job, we wouldn’t have to learn. Change occurs everywhere, regardless of the profession. Otherwise we remain redundant for the current labor market”, attracts the attention of the Human Resources expert.
Romania, tailgating in the EU for training courses
And if the need is clear, the statistical reality shows a major gap compared to the rest of Europe.
“At the EU level, Eurostat reports say that 28% of adults have participated in education and training programs in recent years. In the case of Romania, things are not so good, unfortunately. We are below this average. And then all the changes in the labor market are not coupled with the preparation of people for these changes”says Oana Botolan.
Specifically, in 2022, when the latest data of this kind are available, only approximately 19.1% of Romanian adults had participated in education and training courses in the previous 12 months.
Why Romanians are not interested in training programs
Access – or rather the lack of access to training programs – therefore becomes one of the main factors preventing Romania from aligning itself with the trend of professional recalibration. But he is not the only one.
“Because, of course yes, if we think about the adult population that is employed in private companies, there we don’t have a problem with access to training and education: when there is a business need, a need for competence, it is very clear that employers in this type of companies – whether we are talking about multinationals or local companies – cannot afford not to train people to increase productivity, to be able to work with new software or production lines. production. The problem appears in the area of adults in the secondary education category, perhaps in the area of elementary occupations, perhaps in the area of minimum level of digital skills. Here, unfortunately, the access is not so great. There are not so many free retraining programs in Romania. There’s no appetite either.” believes the expert in organizational consulting.
Career change, a psychological and financial challenge
Beyond professional training, giving up a known career and choosing a new path also involves a series of fears that the employee must overcome.
“It is very difficult when you are no longer at the beginning of your career to accept that you will enter a junior position, even if it is a completely different job and you are aware that you have to learn. But it is very difficult! Especially in the conditions of a low standard of living. Because if we are talking about people who are at a certain financial comfort – i.e. they don’t have the problem of food, rent and bills – then things change majorly. It’s Maslow’s pyramid, after all. If the basic needs are covered, this appetite to learn a new job, to learn something new grows without any problem.” says Oana Botolan.
Another factor has to do with how we were used to doing things as a society. Mindsets are hard to change.
“Imagine an adult who has worked all his life in a certain field, a certain job, being motivated enough to learn and become skilled in something and everything else. This part of the appetite is not very high in Romania, because it is not easy, after all. And it is not even instilled in us from childhood or adolescence that we will have to learn all our lives anyway”the expert believes.
Overqualification, another problem?
On the other hand, those who want to try a different career may encounter another aspect: overqualification. Oana Botolan explains why employers tend to reject employees who are better trained than the job requires:
“It comes with the risk of minimal stability. Because it is very clear that there is this risk that the job is accepted only for the moment, in the absence of a better option, and that as soon as that option appears, then the ship will be abandoned”.
Retraining courses available in Romania
To support those who want a different professional direction – in the same field or in a completely new one – there are training programs at state universities. Available options for the year 2025 – 2026 can be found here.
