Ooni Koda
  1. Home
  2. /
  3. Newsfeed
  4. /
  5. Report: Rising taxes may cause business service companies...

Report: Rising taxes may cause business service companies to have less optimistic outlook

January 18, 2024

 Rising payroll or benefit taxes and the challenges of finding the right employees are causing companies in the industry to have a less optimistic outlook for the coming year, while a lack of predictability may impact the number of investors, reveals a report by the Association of Business Service Leaders (ABSL), conducted together with PwC consulting company.According to the source, the majority of companies in the industry (77%) have seen an increase in the number of customers and services delivered, while the increase in the number of employees has been 10% over the last two years.The report also shows that only 64% of industry companies expect turnover to grow this year, compared to 70% last year, and 33% of companies expect turnover to be similar to last year, compared to 25% in the 2022 report.Human resources and their availability continue to be the biggest challenge for the sector, with growth prospects also cautious in this direction. The ABSL report estimates 10% growth for the next two years.Industry companies increased wages in 2023 by an average of 9% and estimate 7% growth in 2024.According to the report, with an average gross salary of 11,637 lei, the business services industry remains the industry with the highest average basic salary. This industry was in the top 3 in 2022 in terms of wage growth, with 11% (after insurance and retail).Compared to previous years, the number of temporary employees (freelancing, consultants) increased 50%. This year, 46% of companies had such collaborations for services such as IT and technology, finance, procurement and customer operations.At the same time, the number of companies employing expatriates went up 27% compared to last year. Companies chose to hire staff from other countries for services provided in lesser-used foreign languages (59% of cases), as well as due to a lack of human resources in the country (44% of cases).The latest data shows that the revenue generated by the industry for business was 9 billion euro. Also, the contribution of this sector to the GDP in Romania is higher than the European average in recent years.

Read in full - click here
Romanian trade unions prepare for possible general strike over austerity measures

Romania’s main trade union confederations are preparing coordinated protest actions and considering a general strike in response to the government’s new fiscal and austerity measures, Economica.net reported. The decision was made during a meeting of union leaders evaluating the impact...

Bolt, Uber assure their Romanian drivers are paying taxes and contributions legally

The Coalition for the Digital Economy, which brings together companies such as Uber, Glovo, Wolt, Bolt, Bringo, and Lime, in response to Ziarul Financiar's claims that the drivers of the ride-hailing operators are avoiding taxes and social security contributions, assured that this is not the case.  ...

OMV Petrom putting special dividend on ice conveys cautious message to investors

Romanian energy group OMV Petrom (BVB: SNP) will decide by the end of September on the special dividend, based on the progress of the investment projects, the impact of the present and future fiscal reforms implemented by the government, and the market conditions, the company's CFO Alina Popa explained, quoted by Cursdeguvernare.ro.  ...

Romanian teachers’ unions reportedly press education minister to reverse July reforms

Romania’s teachers’ unions announced on August 5 that education minister Daniel David has pledged to ask prime minister Ilie Bolojan to drop some of the most contested measures from the government’s first package of reforms, Hotnews.ro reported. The...

UniCredit Romania expects country's public deficit above 8% of GDP this year

Although the Romanian government is preparing two additional extensive reform packages, targeting mainly the spending cuts and a higher efficiency in the public administration, the 7% of GDP target for this year will not be met, with a level above 8% of GDP more likely, according to a research report by UniCredit Romania.  "Yet, we […]

Romanian deputy PM says magistrates’ pensions must be included in next reform package

Deputy prime minister Tanczos Barna stated on August 4 that Romania’s second package of deficit-reduction measures cannot move forward without addressing magistrates’ pensions, Economedia.ro reported. He warned that failure to reform the system would jeopardise...