Report: Low job openings rates in Romania in industry, construction, services

Romania is among the EU member states with one of the lowest job openings rates in industry, construction and services, of only 0.8% of the total jobs, while the European Union average is 2.9%, according to the latest infographic published by the Social Monitor, a project of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation Romania.The openings rate reflects the percentage of unfilled positions out of the total jobs in a country or in a sector of activity."Let's briefly look at the significance of a low job openings rate and how the indicator relates to other economic factors, such as the unemployment rate. On the one hand, a low rate of jobs available in a year indicates existing tensions and bottlenecks in the supply of jobs available on the labour market. For example, when the demand for jobs is higher than the supply, this imbalance can affect wages in certain fields of activity in which many unemployed people and other people who are not officially registered are looking for work. On the other hand, the comparative differences between the low rate of job vacancies in Romania and the relatively high unemployment rate reflect mismatches between the skills required by employers and the skills of people who are looking for a job," according to foundation.In Romania, the unemployment rate is 5.6%, which is in line with the EU average. In terms of the unemployment rate, the country ranks alongside Western European countries, such as Belgium (5.5%), Luxembourg (5.2%), Denmark (5.1%), but also countries in Southern and Eastern Europe, Slovakia (5.8%), Cyprus (5.8%), Croatia (6.1%) and Estonia (6.4%).Figures also indicate that among the countries with a very high unemployment rate- double Romania's - there are those that also have the lowest values of job openings, such as Spain, with an unemployment rate of 12.2%, Greece (11.1%), Italy (7.7%) and France (7.3%). By comparison, a situation similar to that of Romania is found in Slovakia, Croatia, Estonia, Luxembourg and Ireland."After the unemployment rate and the job openings situation began to return to normal, following the difficult years during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many people were looking for a job due to government restrictions, the current analysis of the workforce demand and supply shows a reorganisation of available jobs," according to the report.In line with the European policies of digital transformation of employment, as well as with the policies of labour flexibility, Romania's trend towards a low rate of job vacancies must be analysed in accordance with the need for autonomy and mobility of people who perform gig work through digital labour platforms, or people with intermittent contracts and freelancing activities, the quoted source specifies."Last but not least, the high economic migration from Romania plays a fundamental role in signalling a relatively low capacity of the labour market to absorb new employees in industry, services and construction, compared to the Western countries, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, which have very high values of the rate of available jobs."