Romanian managers are optimistic, although the reality, figures reported by companies, show a slowdown. Those involved in agriculture and industry are a bit worried, while in services and construction they are the champions, Andriy Chonka, CEO of Impetum Group, said at a debate on the results of the Confidex survey.

The main thing that worries managers is the drop in sales and the labor crisis. Moreover, the labor shortage, with the exception of agriculture, is observed in all fields of activity.

We have to collect the labor force that we see does not produce GDP because it is not taxed, it does not pay taxes and fees and we qualify it

“We don’t have a high unemployment rate, we have a low unemployment rate. This tells us that we have an unskilled labor force that does not work the way we see in government documents. And I think there are two strategic steps that need to be taken: to collect all this labor force that we see today that is not producing GDP because it is not taxed, it is not paying taxes and fees, and I would qualify it. In their place, I would invite less qualified people from the world’s labor force to whom I would give the job. And we see that the immigration numbers are absolutely unsatisfactory. Where do we get this perception from? From the fact that everyone complains about the lack of labor. And if we don’t have more labor force in Romania, let’s bring it from somewhere, it’s natural,” said Andriy Chonka, CEO of Impetum Group.

Key statements from the debate:

Corneliu Bodea, CEO of Adrem and President of CRE: The energy crisis is not over yet

“Overcoming these successive crises gives a sense of optimism, because otherwise the numbers, concrete data do not give us much cause for optimism. The energy field is a specific field because it has been directly influenced. I would not talk about the energy sector, but about the impact that energy has on the economy and industry in general. We have reasons to be at least cautious, if not pessimistic, in the future as well, because although we have overcome a warm winter, we are approaching a new one. We do not guarantee that she will be as warm and kind to us. Despite the fact that we are done with energy reserves, the energy crisis is not over yet,” he declares, believing that the capping of energy prices by EU states, including Romania, has achieved its goal of containing the escalation of energy costs to protect the final consumer and industry.

Corneliu Bodea goes on to discuss workforce concerns in the industry and concerns about national capacity to work on existing projects.

“The energy sector needs both a skilled workforce and a willingness to make huge investments aimed at the energy transition, estimated at around €30 billion in Romania by 2030. Another element that puts pressure on the industry is that all these funds – PNRRs, REPowerEU, Just Transition Fund, etc. – they cause competition for this European workforce, and we see that there is a loss of personnel from Romania to other areas. Moreover, it is also a phenomenon of exit of companies.” – says the general director of Adrem.

In conclusion, Corneliu Bodea expresses an optimistic view of the economy in the short term. His optimism is based on the traction of the economy, given that Romania has fallen behind, but also has the opportunity to recover, and the warning comes in the context of the energy crisis, as well as other crises.

Mihai Logofatu, CEO and co-founder of Bittnet Group: We will repeat the same old story: we bought computer labs but kept them closed so as not to damage the computers in the school

“We always see restraint when there is fear in the education market. Although human capital is fundamental to the digitization of a company, because without people who know what can be done with technology, we will repeat the same story that happened in schools when I was a child: we bought computer classrooms, but they sat with closed doors hack computers at school. People talk about digitization, people say it’s a problem, a priority, but when you start deeper conversations, we notice that we’re better off investing in digital skills development in people’s digital skills, that we’re a little afraid of what’s going to happen,” says Mihai Logofetu.

On the other hand, we dream about extremely advanced things like artificial intelligence, he says, but there are many small and medium-sized businesses that do not have a website.

“You don’t know how to control the business, you have to wait a few months to understand what is happening in your company. For us, for example, or for any listed company, within a few days or weeks after the close of the financial period, we have to tell the shareholders not only to present the balance sheet, but we have a whole report in which we consolidate the results and give interpretations and to publish those documents at such a speed that it is impossible without the presence of certain systems,” he said.

He cited the example of Estonia, which over the past 20 years has taken a significant percentage of investments in digitization and is now a fully digital country.

“In other words, absolutely anything that a citizen, individual or company wants to do with any government agency can be done remotely or digitally without having to go to any agency with a written request,” Logofetu said.

He acknowledges that in recent years there has been concern and openness at the level of public institutions to make this access transparent and easier, citing Virtual Private Space and Ghiseul.ro as examples.

Ramona Jurubice, KPMG Romania: Redundancies in the public sector are highly anticipated in the private sector

“You see this realistic optimism. It also correlates with the index that the Council of Foreign Investors calculates for the 120 largest companies in Romania, and somehow it’s a reconciling trend,” says Jurubice.

According to her, the optimism of companies with foreign capital is considered from three main directions: the first is related to the expectation of revenue growth, the increase in the number of investments from the point of view of the workforce, as well as the appetite for investments and the commitments that companies have taken on.

“I would say that 2023 is and should remain a year of investment, both public and private investment, at least that was the commitment I saw at Government level, and the PNRR is and should remain our mouth of oxygen for the next three years , but the key is implementation and how well we can ensure that the reforms that are in this Plan are implemented,” she added.

Djurubice also believes that the skilled workforce faces the same tensions we see in the need for people.

“I would see what the possibilities are. We have investments, we have such a need for people, but where do we get these people? We can increase quotas to cover unskilled labor by political decision. On the other hand, we have too large a staff at the level of the budget apparatus, too large, which should be perceived not as a social problem, but as a problem of opportunities. Layoffs are widely expected in the private sector. It is true that the private sector with performance indicators. Of course, we also want the public sector to have performance indicators,” says Ramona Jurubice.

Andrii Chonka, CEO Impetum Group: We wondered where such a perception, which contradicts reality, comes from. Looking back, I think the answer comes from unpredictability

“We had extremely effective state interventions that kept the economy in the positive, we had constant growth throughout the analyzed period, except for the second quarter of 2020. In another case, we see that the perception of managers was somehow contrary to the reality presented in the numbers. Naturally, we asked ourselves the question: where does such a perception, which contradicts reality, come from. Looking back, I think the answer comes from unpredictability. In our companies – and our measurements have shown – we have no problems with cash, we have no problems with relations with banks, with relations with suppliers, we have no problems with relations with employees. However, it was the unpredictability that kept us in this zone of optimism,” Csonka adds.

Today, the survey shows that managers are optimistic, even though the numbers reported by companies actually show a slowdown. Managers in agriculture and industry are a little worried, and champions in services and construction.

In addition, while 41% of executives believe that inflation will rise, this percentage is down by a third from the previous measurement.

The main thing that worries managers is the drop in sales and the labor crisis. Moreover, the labor shortage, with the exception of agriculture, is observed in all fields of activity.

“We don’t have a high unemployment rate, we have a low unemployment rate. This tells us that we have an unskilled labor force that does not work the way we see in government documents. And I think there are two strategic steps that need to be taken: to collect all this labor force that we see today that is not producing GDP because it is not taxed, it is not paying taxes and fees, and I would qualify it. In their place, I would invite less qualified people from the world’s labor force to whom I would give the job. And we see that the immigration numbers are absolutely unsatisfactory. Where do we have this perception from? From the fact that everyone complains about the lack of labor. And if we don’t have more labor in Romania, let’s bring it from somewhere, it’s natural,” said Andrii Csonka, CEO of Impetum Group, noting that he also needs to see what the state will do for businessmen to fill this labor force

Despite all existing concerns, businessmen should think together with government institutions about the most appropriate measures to reduce this period of unpredictable results in the economy.

“For me, the optimism of Romanian managers tells me that they will not lay off many people because they are facing labor shortages, and perhaps they will not take the most drastic measures, even if the results of their companies are not the best. expected. There is also a clear idea that they will continue to invest,” he added.

Speaking about UiPath, the IT company that became the first company born in Romania and listed for public trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Andrej Csonka noted that every week there are investors from the US who come to Romania and look for new startups. , new talents , on the UiPath model.

The debate organized on the occasion of the launch of the study was attended by:

– Andriy Chonka, CEO of Impetum Group

– Corneliu Bodea, CEO of Adrem and President of the Romanian Association of Energy Centers

– Ramona Jurubice, Managing Partner of KPMG in Romania

– Alina Birsan, CONFIDEX research director

– Mihai Logofetu, CEO and co-founder of Bittnet Group