Every time you ask your friends how much they earn, they will always give you an amount expressed in US dollars or euros. No one ever says anything about the ROL. However, things are likely to change in the next period, as human resources experts say increasingly more companies on the Romanian market are beginning to negotiate salaries in ROL, which gains more ground against the foreign currency in this particular field.
"In the next period, we will witness a discussion related to the currency of choice for negotiating salaries. The market trend points to a shift from US dollars to ROL, not euros. Once turned into ROL, it will be difficult for these salaries to be then calculated in euros," Ruxandra Stoian, senior manager human capital with PricewaterhouseCoopers said yesterday. According to Stoian, in certain fields (such as the fast moving consumer goods), all transactions are being conducted in ROL, which makes it easier to work with the national currency in the case of salaries, as well. "The ROL is a more predictable instrument," Stoian added.
Analysts say that this trend actually premiered in 2001-2002. "The evolution logged by the single European currency and by the US dollar drove many companies in Romania that had been paying wages in dollars to choose between the euro and the ROL. Many of them chose the national currency. This is not a mass phenomenon yet, but the trend is certainly spreading," said Daniela Briceag, executive manager of PayPoint, a division of Intersource, the human resources consultancy group.
According to Daniela Briceag, there are several reasons why the companies are beginning to favour the national currency over the American dollar. "The existence of salaries paid in foreign currency exerts considerable pressure over a company's budget, whereas the possible raises were no longer motivational enough. A salary paid in ROL and adjusted quarterly to the inflation rate was the best choice. Moreover, there were even understandings between the companies operating in the same industry, which agreed on the salary level and on the currency they used," Daniela Briceag added.
Salaries in foreign currency last year accounted for more or ... less money, in line with the EUR/USD oscillations on the international markets and, implicitly, in Bucharest.
For instance, someone who had negotiated, back in January 2001, a salary revolving around 13 million ROL adjusted to the USD evolution, which meant about 500 dollars, has been paid the exact same amount in dollars ($500) ever since, whereas the amount expressed in ROL went up to 16.3 million ROL in January 2004. Had they negotiated the salary in line with the inflation rate, starting from the 13m ROL in January 2001, the amount would have gone up to 19 million ROL, namely 3 million ROL more. The gap is wider for the euro. Few of those that went for the euro in January 2001, when the single European currency did not even exist, have come to cash 22 million ROL this January, namely the equivalent of 535 euros. Consequently, the different adjustments applied to the same negotiated income have significantly distorted the salary market.
miruna.lebedencu@zf.ro
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