The Government has okayed, for 2026, a contingent of 90,000 new foreign workers admitted to the Romanian labor market, to cover the personnel deficit in several fields, the Ministry of Labor announced on Tuesday.
"The measure comes in the context in which employers have repeatedly reported vacant jobs that they could not fill, and the demand for employment permits for citizens from other states is significant," the institution informs in a release, agerpres reports.
The main areas of activity affected by the lack of personnel are: courier (26,275), goods handler (20,912), unskilled worker in building demolition, masonry lining, mosaic tiles, wall tiles, sandstone, floor tiles (20,484), building construction workers (17,799), commercial worker (16,246), car and van driver (12,237), kitchen assistant (12,077), road freight driver (11,135), unskilled worker in breaking and cutting construction materials (10,878) and security guard (10,438).
At the same time, by September 30, 2025, 83,914 employment/posting permits for foreign workers had been issued, and 7,418 applications were being processed, according to the General Inspectorate for Immigration (IGI). By comparison, 105,977 employment/posting permits were issued in 2024. During the same reference period, 61,954 temporary residence permits for employment purposes and 156 residence permits for secondment purposes were issued, compared to 110,365 and 339 respectively in 2024.
Also, data communicated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs show that, by September 26, 2025, 42,544 visas for employment were issued to foreign citizens who were about to enter Romania and 9,851 applications for long-stay visas for employment/secondment were rejected. A number of 272 such visas were cancelled/revoked, and 4,648 applications are in the process of being resolved.
According to the Labor Inspectorate, the number of new individual employment contracts (IEC) of employees who are citizens of states outside the European Union, concluded between January 1 and September 25, 2025, was 73,213. In 2024, the total number of new IECs was 98,966.
The quota of foreign workers is established annually or whenever necessary, by Government decision, at the proposal of the Ministry of Labor, Family, Youth and Social Solidarity.
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