Manpower importers' association cautions against rising anti-foreign worker sentiment in Romania

  Hiring foreign workers does not mean replacing Romanian citizens, but a last resort solution to the acute shortage of local human resources, and demanding a ban on foreign workers in Romania means denying the exact right the Romanians have enjoyed in order to build a better life, by working legally in Italy, Spain, Germany, Great Britain or on other continents, warns the Labor Importers Employers' Association (PIFM).In a statement sent on Wednesday, PIFM denounces the hostile messages circulated on social media, which incite discrimination against Asian workers, and demands the protection of the dignity of immigrant workers."The free movement of people for work is a basic principle in the European Union. Millions of Romanians have benefited and continue to benefit from this right by working legally in Italy, Spain, Germany, the United Kingdom or on other continents. To demand today the rejection of foreign workers in Romania means denying the exact right Romanian citizens have used to build a better life," the statement said.According to the cited source, Romania is facing an acute shortage of personnel in multiple fields, and foreign legal workers contribute to the functioning of the economy. Any company that takes in non-EU labor does so only as a last resort, after having gone through a clearly established legal procedure with the National Employment Agency (ANOFM). In the first instance, Romanian employers are required to declare job vacancies to the National Employment Agency to try to fill them with local labor, including by promoting available positions online."Only if these jobs cannot be filled by Romanian citizens do companies receive a certificate from ANOFM that allows them to initiate the external recruitment process. This process involves the selection and testing of personnel from outside the European Union and the completion of an entire migration mechanism. (...) Employers bear additional costs for each non-EU employee: taxes to the state budget for the work permit, work visa, residence permit and other bureaucratic obligations. In addition, the hiring process is extremely complex and lengthy, taking between 10 and 12 months from the moment the positions are declared to the ANOFM until the foreign workers actually enter Romania. These non-EU employees work honestly, pay taxes and earn their living with dignity. Putting a stigma on them based on ethnicity or nationality origin is not only immoral, but also contrary to the European and international values Romania has committed to," the PIFM points out.The Labor Importers Employers' Association is publicly asking the competent institutions to protect the rights of all workers, regardless of nationality, and calls for solidarity and mutual respect among citizens.