How the NON EU recruitment can solve the retail staffing crisis

If a few years ago, in relations with the big players in the FMCG industry and staff recruited from outside Europe, there was a language barrier issue, today its delegation in stores compensates for any impediment.

In order to combat the lack of staff in the Retail sector, the Romanian entrepreneur Eugen Saulea, the founder of ESSA Group hired 137 people from Sri Lanka, of which 57 have already been placed in stores, 44 will arrive in the country in the second part of November, and the remaining 36 in January 2023. “It is a known fact that Romania is a country of emigration, and the challenge of recruiting staff locally is not an easy one. There are several advantages to delegating NON EU staff. At the same time, Sri Lanka has been marked by a major social instability last year, there are riots and imbalances on the political scene and the ordinary citizens of this country suffer the most. ESSA tries to help these people by involving them in projects in Romania”, explains Eugen Saulea. Moreover, once they arrive here, the citizens of Sri Lanka are treated with humanity and they are provided with everything they need for a proper start in Romania, starting with budgets in advance to ensure their food and personal hygiene. “And they are very open to the jobs that are assigned to them and motivated. At the same time, they are involved in the assigned activities and prove to be flexible in terms of their work schedule“.

The costs with a NON EU employee differ depending on the country of origin and qualification, adds Eugen Saulea. A key factor in defining this is related to the ease with which the NON EU employee can express himself in English. For example, monthly wages for commercial workers are between $450 and $550, plus mandatory lodging and a budget of about $150 for meals. “The direct net cost with an employee is about $700, to which the related taxes are added,” explains the entrepreneur.

Currently, ESSA Group is a pioneer in the delegation of NON EU personnel for the management of sales points in large international chains. “Furthermore, we are also pioneers in the delegation of NON-EU personnel in positions of commercial workers – merchandisers, for the big players in the FMCG industry“, says the entrepreneur.