Coders consider to change job to compensate for the financial losses due to recent tax changes

Amid the latest discussions about new tax measures, IT workers are considering ways to mitigate their financial impact, according to a survey by online recruitment platform bestjobs. Thus, more than a third of them rely on the fact that the employer will compensate the decrease in salary resulting from taxation, 21% plan to open their own Ltds, while another 19% are thinking of collaborating with the employer through PFA (self-employed contracts), and the rest assume the effects of these fiscal changes.

For IT candidates, working in a field that has grown a lot in Romania in recent years, the salary is very important, as it appears from the bestjobs survey. That’s why more than 40% of employees would change their current job for a higher salary to cover the new taxes, 35% for challenging projects, while 21% aim for more generous benefits packages. Another 4% just want a change of environment.

In Romania, at the end of 2022, those listed as employees in the field of information and communications represented 3.4% of the total working population, according to national statistics data. In addition to these, there are others who collaborate with IT companies in the PFA or micro-enterprise system. Many of them would be affected by the tax measures that are under discussion, after a very long period in which they benefited from numerous facilities.

3 out of 4 plan to change jobs in the next year, according to bestjobs survey responses. The possibility to work only from home is very important for almost 60% of respondents, along with the flexibility of working hours. More than half prefer to work according to their own schedule, with a focus on completing tasks and not on the number of hours worked. Only a quarter said they were better off with a fixed schedule, while 17% said they preferred to work a few hours in the morning and a few in the evening.

Among the benefits preferred by this category of employees are shares in the company where possible (44%), private health insurance (31%), subscription to private medical clinics (28%), contributions to private pensions (12% ), private life insurance (11%), 13th salary (10%) and performance bonuses and bonuses (7%).

When asked what are the most realistic stereotypes about themselves, IT respondents admit that they often prefer outfits consisting of a sweatshirt or T-shirt with jeans and sneakers, have hobbies that accentuate their “nerd” side, solve anything with a restart or that they are call by older relatives to help them learn passwords. At the same time, many of them confessed that they are faithful to one programming language, although they know several.

The survey was conducted between September and October 2023, on a sample of 550 employees in the IT field.