Not only young people leave, but also mature people in search of better paying work. According to INS data obtained by HotNews, the number of Romanians traveling abroad for work exceeds 400,000, about 200,000 more than 10 years ago.

In addition to those who have gone to work abroad, there are also Romanians who work away from home, which is almost 30% of the employed workforce, INS data also show. And which, compared to 10 years ago, is 150 thousand more.

Of the total number of Romanians who went abroad, more than 70% work, 7% study, and the rest either visit family or are on business trips, statistics also show.

There are more men than women, and more people come from the city than from the countryside. Most trips abroad are for 9-11 months. It will be recalled that in this study the statistics considered those who leave for a period of less than a year, and not those who emigrate permanently.

Bulk shipping countries are listed below (click image to enlarge):

Why do Romanians go abroad?

According to the Expat Insider survey conducted by InterNations, the majority of Romanians working abroad were hired through various agencies (20%), followed by 16% who found work on their own and 8% were sent abroad by an employer.

In addition to work-related reasons, some moved to another country mainly because they wanted to live in their partner’s country of origin/for love (12% vs. 10% worldwide) or because they were looking for a better quality of life ( 10% compared to 6% worldwide).

The most common field of work for Romanians is IT (19% compared to 11% globally). Other industries include finance (9%) and transportation and logistics (8%), as well as health care, manufacturing and engineering, and education (7% each).

While the share of Romanians working in transport and logistics is twice the global average (8% vs. 4% globally), Romanians are underrepresented in education (7% vs. 12% globally).

The level of education among Romanians working abroad is similar to the world average. In addition, the proportion of Romanians with a postgraduate/master’s degree (or equivalent) is the same as the world average (47%).

Entrepreneurship seems unusual for Romanians who report working abroad: only 2% have their own business (vs. 7% globally), while 8% are self-employed/independent workers (vs. 11% globally), Survey shows InterNations Expat Insider

Romanians working abroad are mostly dissatisfied with their work-life balance

Overall, Romanians are not very satisfied with their working lives, with only 66% satisfied with their jobs overall (compared to 73% globally), while 17% are somewhat dissatisfied and 7% say they are very dissatisfied, satisfied with their jobs

A closer look reveals that Romanians working abroad are mostly dissatisfied with their work-life balance. Only 62% are satisfied with this factor (compared to 68% globally), while 20% are dissatisfied (compared to 16% globally). They also complain about lack of career opportunities (50% vs. 49% globally), long working hours (71% vs. 70% globally) and job security (70% vs. 67% globally).