In 2023, Romania had over 5.7 million active employees. According to data from the eighth edition of the annual Review & Trends report, produced by eJobs, 29.2% of employees had a salary between 3,001 and 4,000 lei. 26.1% earned between 4,001 and 7,000 lei, and 21.1% between 2,001 and 3,000. 7.8% earned less than 2,000 lei net per month, 10.3% between 7,001 and 10,000 lei, and 5.5% over 10,000 lei. These averages were drawn from over 700,000 employee-entered salaries in Salario, the eJobs-branded salary comparator.
The best paid in 2023 were employees from the Capital, who recorded a net monthly average of 5,000 lei (the average includes all fields of activity and all levels of experience and professional training). Timiș County was in second place, with 4,700 lei net, followed by Cluj (4,500 lei), Ilfov, Iasi, Brașov, Sibiu and Satu Mare (all with 4,000 lei). With a net average of 3,100 lei per month, Caraș-Severin is the county with the lowest wages in Romania.
Also in the same list are Gorj, Ialomița and Vâlcea – all three with registered averages of 3,200 lei; Vaslui (3,300 lei), Covasna and Vrancea (3,400 lei); Calarasi, Teleorman and Mehedinti (3,500 lei).
Regardless of the counties in which they are located, IT employees earned the best in 2023 as well – 6,500 lei per month. Those in project management and research/development had, on average, salaries of 6,000 lei per month, those in management 5,500 lei, while the average salary in construction/installations was 5,000 lei per month.
The lowest averages were marked by those working in the beauty services sector (3,000 lei), au pair / babysitting / cleaning (3,000 lei), office / back-office / secretarial (3,100 lei), clothing (3,300 lei) and tourism (3,400 lei).
“Wages and how they have evolved or stagnated has been one of the most talked about topics in 2023, especially since the end of the year came with a package of tax changes that affected four areas with consistent annual volumes of jobs: IT, construction, food industry and agriculture. From November 1, the income tax exemption for those working in these fields was eliminated. However, the average salary in the economy increased in 2023 to 4,692 lei, from 3,949, as it was in 2022″, says Bogdan Badea, CEO of eJobs.
The most sought-after jobs on eJobs were, last year, those of driver – for which the average salary is 3,800 lei per month, medical assistant (4,500 lei net), call center operator (2,800 lei), accountant ( 3,700 lei), engineer (4,800 lei) and economist (4,500 lei).
“In 2023 we had 148,000 jobs with the salary displayed on eJobs. These generally receive 40% more applications than those without, even though only 9% of companies had salary transparency as part of their policy at the beginning of last year and 34% were open to adopting it. It is very likely that these percentages will increase significantly in 2024, a year in which we will see much more pragmatism in the labor market, both on the part of candidates and employers”, points out Bogdan Badea.
The highest salaries entered in 2023 by employees in Salario were 42,000 lei – salary received by a CEO, 25,000 lei (naval officer), 45,000 lei (IT architect or CTO). The market averages for these positions are, however, 18,000 lei for a CEO (the average covers all counties and domains, as well as all types of companies, i.e. multinationals or start-ups), 16,000 lei for a naval officer, 15,000 of lei for an IT architect and 14,000 lei for a CTO.