Romania: hiring stable, skills shifting

Romanian employers say hiring will stay mostly flat over the next two years, even as artificial intelligence starts changing what skills they want. (business-review.eu) In the latest eJobs Romania survey, about 8 in 10 employers said artificial intelligence would not change headcount, but 47.4% said they use AI only sporadically and mostly at employees’ initiative rather than through company policy. (business-review.eu) Only 5.2% of respondents said AI is strategically integrated across most departments, and 15.5% said it is used in a few clearly defined processes. A quarter said they are still exploring the technology or do not use it and have no plans to do so. (business-review.eu) The gap is not mainly about layoffs. It is about capability: four in ten employers said AI literacy is not assessed in interviews yet, even as companies say they will need different skills from candidates than they sought before. (stiripesurse.ro) That fits a wider Romanian labor market that already shows shortages in high-skill fields. The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training said in March 2026 that Romania faces supply-demand imbalances in information technology, engineering, healthcare, education, and social services, and ranks below the European Union average in skills development. (cedefop.europa.eu) Romania is also starting from a low base on company AI use. Eurostat said 3.1% of Romanian enterprises with 10 or more employees used AI technologies in 2024, the lowest share in the European Union, versus an EU average of 13.5%. (ec.europa.eu) Inside companies that have adopted AI, the effects look mixed rather than dramatic. eJobs said 26% of employers reported workloads fell by 10% to more than 20%, 10% said workloads increased because staff had to learn and verify the tools, and another 10% said lighter workloads came with worse-quality results. (business-review.eu) Trust in the tools is still cautious. More than half of surveyed employers said they have only moderate confidence in AI output and need thorough fact-checking, while 11.4% said they trust it little and use it mainly for brainstorming. (business-review.eu) Employers said AI has had the biggest positive effect so far in marketing and communication, operations and administration, and recruitment and human resources. They said customer support, sales and business development, and even information technology and software development have been less affected so far. (business-review.eu) The near-term picture in Romania is a labor market where payrolls look steadier than job descriptions. Companies are not broadly cutting roles yet, but they are starting to screen for workers who can use, check, and work alongside AI tools. (business-review.eu)