The Procter & Gamble factory in Urla]i, one of the few big investment projects in the fast moving consumer goods industry now in progress is getting 50-60 application for each opening it has.
"We have recruited about 60 people from 3,000-4,000 applications. We have about 20 manager positions filled, for which we got several hundred CVs," says Luc Viaene, manager of the P&G factory in Urla]i.
In sales and marketing, the battle for each newly created job in a multinational is even harsher. "One can feel the unemployment has risen. For 20 marketing openings we have recently received 6,000 applications. Last year we had about 400 CVs for 200 jobs," Shachar Shaine, chief executive of United Romania Breweries Bereprod, producer of Tuborg said a few weeks ago. P&G started its first greenfield project in Romania in Ural]i (Prahova county) in February, which will be the biggest shampoo factory of the company. Until next spring, when it starts production, the factory will have approximately 150 employees.
The P&G investment and the construction of the Pepsi Americas factory in Bucharest are the only 100 million dollar greenfield projects in the consumer goods industry that will be completed in the coming year, and could generate 600-700 new jobs until 2011. The number of factories that are either closing or making hundreds of employees redundant is much higher at this moment. A total of 1,786 new layoffs were registered with the National Employment Agency in the last week of June alone.
The biggest shampoo factory of the P&G giant that is being built in Urla]i could have a third development phase in the next two or three years after completion of the 100 million dollar investments initially announced by the American company, says Luc Viaene.
"We started construction works in February and this autumn we will install the two assembly lines. In May next year we will start the first phase of this project that targets the Romanian market 40% and other countries in the Balkans where P&G operates," says Luc Viaene. The first phase will entail 50 million-dollar investments.
Belgium-born Viaene has been working for P&G for 25 years and has been coordinating the Urla]i project since last year, for which the company mobilised a total of 10 expats.
"Despite the current economic context, we have not slowed down the work pace at the location in Urla]i, because it is a strategic investment of Procter & Gamble - it will cover the volume growth generated by the development of the markets in Central and Eastern Europe. These markets will continue to grow on medium and long-term," Viaene says.
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