Romania: hiring amid high inflation
Some companies are still hiring in Romania even as the labour market becomes more selective and inflation hit near 10% in March 2026. Local reporting compiled firms that continue to recruit while noting that real wages and retention pressures are being shaped by high inflation relative to neighbours (economedia.ro, hotnews.ro).
Some Romanian employers are still hiring in April 2026, even as layoffs, factory closures and nearly 10% inflation make the job market tighter. (economedia.ro) Economedia reported on April 14 that retail, services, logistics, health care and some technology employers are still recruiting, despite a broader wave of restructuring. The outlet said companies are trying to keep skilled staff while hiring has become more selective. (economedia.ro) The same report cited National Institute of Statistics data showing 5,900 fewer job vacancies in the fourth quarter of 2025 than a year earlier. An earlier Economedia survey, published on September 2, 2025, said the most active hiring sectors included retail, call centers, business-process outsourcing, transport, logistics, production, food and construction, with Bucharest-Ilfov, Iași, Cluj-Napoca, Brașov, Timișoara and Craiova leading by city. (economedia.ro, economedia.ro) That hiring is happening alongside cuts. Economedia reported in December 2025 that Leoni would close its Marghita factory in the first half of 2026, affecting about 190 workers, and said the total number affected at Leoni Wiring Systems Arad could reach 700 as Arad and Beiuș are reorganized. (economedia.ro) Romania’s inflation backdrop is harsher than the labor numbers alone suggest. HotNews reported that annual inflation was close to 10% in March 2026 and running well above several neighboring countries, increasing pressure on household budgets and on employers trying to retain staff. (hotnews.ro) Across the European Union, unemployment was 5.9% in February 2026, unchanged from January, according to Eurostat. Eurostat’s release shows the wider regional labor market is not in recession, but Romania’s employers are operating with a narrower set of openings and higher cost pressure. (ec.europa.eu, ec.europa.eu) The result is a split market: layoffs in parts of manufacturing and continued recruitment in consumer-facing and service sectors. In Romania in April 2026, getting hired depends less on whether jobs exist at all than on which sector, city and skill set a worker brings. (economedia.ro, economedia.ro)
