How much “an employee without study” should be paid is the question that gave rise to an interesting debate on the Reddit platform. An employee in the trade sector earns, on average, a net salary of 5,078 lei, slightly lower than in education, ie 5,924 lei.
Heated debate online on wages. Photo: Iulian Grandma
Interesting debate on Reddit on the edge of the announcement of a Bucharest Simigement looking for an employee and pays 4,500 net lei.
For the whole year 2025, the National Commission for Strategy and Forecast (CNSP) estimated a net average salary of 5,355 lei per month (in July, was 5,517 lei, according to the National Institute of Statistics – INS).
From the data of the Ministry of Labor, on August 31, 2025 the number of active employees was approximately 5,700,081.
According to Hotnews, the increase of the minimum wage to 4,050 gross lei, from January 2025, have benefited over 1,823,520 employees – that is, they will have the minimum or close salary. Therefore, about 32% of the employees earn the minimum wage in the economy in Romania.
Average salaries vary much depending on the activity sector. On the first place is, according to the NIS, quoted by Panorama.ro, the employees of the information and communications sector (they are also included), where the average net salary reached 11,004 lei per month. On the second place is the sector of the financial and insurance intermediaries, with 10,614 lei. Following the production sector and the supply of electric and thermal energy, where the average is 9,054 lei. At the tail of the ranking are the employees of hotels and restaurants, who earn on average 3,332 lei a month.
In the sector “Wholesale and retail”, the average salaries is 5,078 lei, slightly lower than in education – 5,924 lei.
“In the state education system, the basic salary of a teacher is about 3,900 net lei, and that of a beginner teacher between 3,500 and 4,200 lei. The more the age and the didactic degree in which the salary ceilings are also increased, so that a teacher with over 25 years and grade 1 reaches a basic salary between 6,800 and 7,500 net lei ”, It is shown in an article published in the economic press.
“Many have the impression that” one without studies “must live in a lucia poverty.”
The increase of wages for unskilled work has aroused a heated debate in the public space. Some Romanians look at the situation with skepticism, others see it as a normality and a natural step to ensure a decent living.
The debate started from a photo of a employment announcement at a simigration in the Capital: the salary was 4,500 net lei. “3 out of 4 Romanians think they look with envy. Leaving the joke, bravo that at least try to keep up with inflation (only very big profits have anyway, so they allow themselves)”, It was the comment of the one who started the debate.
For others, the reality of work behind seemingly “simple” trades justifies higher salaries:
“It seems normal to me. Many have the impression that” one without studies “must live in a poverty and clear to do less than someone who has a college and works in Excel. It should be taken into account how many hours that covrigar works, most likely the work begins at 4-5 in the morning and stays in the heat to knead for 12-14 hours, you have to clean and probably put some obligatory weekends. We are not talking about the fact that there is not much chance of promotion. It is a normal salary for Bucharest, in the end everyone has to allow them to pay for a rent and warm their child. ”
“Well, under what conditions they work, I think too! That it certainly puts them on the 12h program a day, plus heat, plus open/closed/cleaning. It will work on 4,500 they will jump their covers,” someone else supported.
Another user of the platform claims that the salary is “normal” for other cities in the country, not just for the capital.
Another comment emphasizes: “That should be the minimum wage in Romania”. At the same time, there are also voices that warn: “If that was a minimum wage, you could not find a studio to rent below 500 euros. A pack of cigarettes was 38 lei, the fuel 9 lei+”.
The problem of sustainability is often raised: “Do you think the prices would not increase if the minimum wage would be that?“. while the minimum wage has just moved something in recent years. ”
Teacher VS Covrigar
The theme reaches a sensitive point: the value of the non -qualified work in relation to the intellectual one.
“And yet a lot of people believe that unskilled work should be paid poorly, because you have not been to chop books or something and take exams. As if you are earning a salary that covers a decent living, no matter how much, no profession or (us) qualifying.” support a commentator.
Those who lived abroad notes the differences:
“” I lived abroad for a period of time and I saw that there from a cashier’s salary, or cleaning agent, you received a decent salary, as much as to allow you a rent, food + basic expenses, and there was a 200 euros for others. Minimum must be correlated with the reality of daily living. ”
Reporting to other professions is inevitable. “Professor with 2 masters and 5 years experience with grade taken, today, take a little over, about 5,000.” “Does 12 hours a day work in the heat?” – someone commented. Replica comes immediately: “He made masters so he wouldn’t stand in the heat …”
One of the commentator claimed that hatred towards the people with school remained from the time of communism imprinted in the collective mind: “The hatred of a category that takes off illiterates and wages while they have among the lightest programs is justified ” – The reply came. Another commentator recommends to teachers “to be satisfied with a little over 5,000 lei or look elsewhere. ”
“Lucky that he can eat donuts, otherwise he lived only with water”
A user also discussed the question of the housing: he posted an advertisement with two -room apartment in the area of Domenii, at 3,299 lei, ironically commenting: “Lucky he can eat donuts, otherwise he lived only with water. “ Another replied: “E Completely imbecil to give an example of an apartment in the area of the field by the way how hard a rent allows. In the same line, a worker in green spaces does not allow himself to stay at home in spring and this is wrong … “
Finally, the discussion remains open. “With 4,500 in Bucharest Maxim studio, not apartment. But it’s better than dying in the country and staying with your parents. In Bucharest you have the chance to evolve faster. ”
The debate on salaries is not only about figures, but also about perceptions, expectations and realities of a decent living in Romania today.
