Romania risks losing the foreign workforce already present in the country to states such as Spain, which are preparing legalisation measures for hundreds of thousands of workers, while Romanian legislation remains rigid and discouraging, the Employers' Association of Labour Importers (PIFM) has warned.
According to a press release sent to AGERPRES, while Spain has announced legalisation measures for more than 500,000 foreign workers and offers stability and clear prospects for integration, Romania continues to apply a rigid and coercive approach.
"Romania is repeating the same flawed model: instead of attracting and retaining resources, it is adopting measures that lead to their loss. The Romanian state believes everything can be solved through fines and constraints, in an economy that is changing rapidly. We are sanctioned because workers leave for Western Europe, even though bringing them to Romania is extremely bureaucratic and time-consuming, and if they fall into illegality - often due to a lack of understanding of immigration procedures - there is no form of amnesty available to them. There is only repatriation. Meanwhile, Spain is offering amnesty to 500,000 people. Why would they stay here? As early as spring 2025, we said Romania should offer amnesty to foreign nationals who wish to work but are in an irregular situation. The Romanian authorities have done nothing and deny that such situations exist. Spain did not waste time," said Romulus Badea, president of PIFM, as quoted in the press release.
The authorities are choosing to penalise recruiters for the departure of foreign workers from Romania, while refusing to acknowledge the broader European reality, the press release states.
"Spain, Italy and Portugal have adopted amnesty policies for tens of thousands of workers, offering them a guarantee of legal status. In this context, sanctions applied in Romania do nothing but drive the workforce towards states that accept and protect it. Under these conditions, foreign workers are no longer deterred by the risk of illegality, because they know other countries will provide them with documents," the press release adds.
According to PIFM, as long as Romania "responds only with threats and restrictions", any efforts by recruitment agencies are rendered ineffective, and labour migrates to places where it is wanted and protected.
As a result, Romania is losing a resource it already has on its territory because it 'refuses to legalise it', the press release warns.
"Workers who have become irregular strictly due to bureaucratic reasons have no path back to legality here, yet they can go to Spain without difficulty to obtain documents and work there. It is like having a good car in your yard without licence plates: instead of registering it, you scrap it and wait to buy another later. As long as Romania refuses an amnesty law and fails to pursue its own economic interest, it will continue to lose people, money and competitiveness, while other European states gain precisely from what we are driving away," Badea added, as quoted in the press release.
Moreover, in their current form, the new regulations on labour migration risk blocking more than 70,000 applications for work permits already submitted, with appointments scheduled through to 30 April 2026, the press release notes. The budgetary impact would be significant.
For each month of delay in bringing these workers to Romania, the state loses approximately 130 million lei. This amount includes around 74.3 million lei in social security contributions (CAS), equivalent to about 27,000 average pensions; 29.7 million lei in health insurance contributions (CASS); more than 19.3 million lei in salary tax; and around 7.4 million lei in the labour insurance contribution, according to the press release.
"Transitional provisions in the draft legislation could generate delays of at least six months in the recruitment process, leading to estimated budgetary losses of around 780 million lei. While other European countries are seeking solutions to retain and legalise the human resources already present on their territory, even in situations of irregularity, within the European Union there is direct competition for this resource," the press release further states.
As a result, the Romanian state has failed to retain its own workforce, has no programme to encourage its return, and is now also failing to attract and retain foreign workers, the press release concludes.
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