After fading away in the years after 1989 and forced to change profession, graduate engineers now make up a professional category that is in very high demand on the labour market following investment in equipment factories.
As more and more foreign companies announce massive investments in manufacturing facilities, finding a specialist has become a tough challenge in recruitment.
So what is the market looking for? The answer is: Manufacturing Manager, Engineering Manager, Logistics Manager, Supply Chain Manager, Materials Manager, Maintenance Manager, Quality Manager; all of which positions pay between 600 and 1,200 euros a month.
"Starting last year, the number of companies opening manufacturing facilities in Romania began to increase significantly. In these circumstances, requests for personnel have increased accordingly. Most problems we've had have been in the technology field, since it is hard to find experienced engineers that can fill a manufacturing manager position, for example," said Daniela Necefor, the general manager of Total Business Solutions, a recruitment firm.
The shortage of technically skilled employees is not the same in all parts of the country, however.
"Most engineers in Bucharest migrated to other fields after '89. They chose finance or sales and no longer have the necessary expertise and experience for manufacturing. This is why companies setting up manufacturing operations outside Bucharest are having trouble in finding skills," explained Necefor.
Western Romania has developed at a much faster pace than other areas of the country. Foreign investors interested in production began settling up in cities like Timisoara and Arad as early as five or six years ago and have since had the time to find or train the necessary staff. This does not necessarily mean the problems are over, though.
"Competent manufacturing staff categories have been formed that have already acquired relevant expertise in high-profile industries. Despite this, the high number of investments is already creating staffing problems, particularly when it comes to positions that are newer compared with the industrial environments that existed before 1990s - logistics, supply chain management, quality assurance, controlling, reporting and industrial engineering positions," said Razvan Ogarcin, managing partner of AIMS Human Capital Timisoara, a personnel recruitment company.
He added this was also the case for the IT sector, since graduate supply is already exceeded by demand every year.
"The major software centres that have been set up in Timisoara in particular have already recruited most software developers from the area over the last three years so now recruiting for such positions is becoming a serious problem," said Ogarcin.
Statistics show that the number of employees in the electrical and electronic equipment sectors rose by 16.5% in 2004 compared with 2001, with the total number of people working in the sector reaching 92,000.
Having conquered Timisoara, Arad, Oradea and Sibiu, investors are now migrating to Bistrita, Orastie and Alba Iulia. miruna.lebedencu@zf.ro
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