Romanian IT: 14,000 companies, 75,000 employees, total incomes of EUR 4bln

Around 14,000 IT companies are registered in Romania at present, while about 50 percent of them are based in Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca, reveals the recent study on national IT industry conducted by ARIES Transilvania iTech Cluster, the biggest Romanian regional IT&C association.

The study also shows that IT&C companies in Romania generated returns of EUR 4 billion in 2014, while offering permanent jobs for over 75,000 employees.

The Cluster iTech Transilvania by ARIES study was conducted based on the official incomes declared by 14,000 analyzed companies and on a sample of 393 representatives from the biggest profile companies in the country. The survey reads that Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca are ranking first in the regional top with the most numerous IT companies, with 48 %. On the other hand, Cluj-Napoca has the most IT experts reported to the city population, making that 1 in 25 Cluj residents is actually working in this field.

Regarding the active workforce, 73 percent of the employees of IT local industry are present in Bucharest, Cluj, Iasi and Timis.

The Capital city has most of the employers, providing almost half of the total number of IT jobs in Romania. On the annual evolution of the employees number, counties like Iasi, Dolj, Constanta and Gorj are reporting significant rises, over 30 percent compared to 2013.

To those 75,000 permanent IT employees, registered sole traders are added, with 17,000 of them countrywide last year.

Bucharest and Cluj also top the biggest employers ranking, with pver 1,000 employees per company.

„The IT industry is the biggest business and job generator in Romania and it will still be for many years from now. We wanted to have a coherent, close outlook of the market: how much money does it generate, what is the precise need of experts, what are the wages and the technologies,” said Voicu Oprean, ARIES Transilvania president.

The total turnover of the Romanian IT industry was about RON 16 M (approx. EUR 4 bln) in 2014, up by 26% compared to 2013. 60 percent of these revenues were achieved by companies in Bucharest, 11 pc by those in Cluj and 10 pc by the rest of the cities.

A quarter of IT employees are seniors

A quarter of the total number of employees are occupying senior positions, while the net average salary in IT mounted to RON 2,600 in mid-2015. More than half of the companies interviewed in the study (54%) operated or are to operate salary rises by 16 pc by the end of the year.

„The conclusion is simple: IT will continue to support the Romanian economy and to be a top employer. Our expectation is that the number of direct employees next to IT registered sole traders will reach ver 100,000 people at the end of 2015, compared to 93,000 in December 2014,” Voicu Opreanu said.

In terms of benefits, Romanian IT companies mostly offer trainings and holiday bonuses (58 pc), excellence bonuses (55 pc) and events for the employees (51%). The employees also receive medical insurances and meal vouchers.