Most workers in Romania, the Republic of Moldova, Bulgaria, Hungary and Greece say they want a 20-30% pay rise, with the exception of Greeks who would be satisfied with a 10-15% increase. In the Republic of Moldova, 32% of workers would need a raise of 30-50%, and 21% of them – more than 50%.

The survey was conducted between December 2022 and March 2023 and involved 12,801 employees from Romania, the Republic of Moldova, Bulgaria, Hungary and Greece. They work in IT, Retail, Finance & Banking, BPO & Services, Telecom, Consumer Goods Manufacturing, Healthcare Services, Industrial Manufacturing, HoReCa, Hydrocarbon/Energy Manufacturing & Transportation, Science & Technology Services, Construction/Real Estate , media and culture.

Employees in Romania and Hungary are optimistic about salary increases in 2023: 53% and 62% of them respectively believe they will receive a salary increase. In contrast, the majority of respondents in Greece (61%), Moldova (60%) and Bulgaria (55%) do not think they will get a raise this year.

Moreover, most workers in the region were not informed that they would have higher wages in 2023. In Bulgaria, 77% of workers say they were not informed about a possible salary increase, followed by Romania (75%), Moldova (71%), Greece (66%) and Hungary (60%).

32-43% of workers in the region will look for another job if their salaries are not increased

If they do not get a salary increase, 32-43% of workers in the region will look for another job, and 18-30% of workers do not plan to.

Romania is the country with the lowest number of workers who would look for a second job (12%), but also with the highest number of those who would try to negotiate a salary increase with their boss (19%).

The Republic of Moldova has the highest percentage of workers who would find a second job or co-op (22%), while Hungary has the highest percentage of workers who have no plan in case they don’t get a raise (30%).

Although their income can be significantly increased through various benefits (packages with meal cards, health/pension insurance/life insurance, etc.), these initiatives are the least considered by employees – 7-9% of employees would appreciate these initiatives.

In the Republic of Moldova, employee productivity is of the greatest importance

Hungary has the highest percentage of employees who receive an annual salary increase (58%), while Greece has the highest percentage of employees who receive a higher salary only after discussing it with their manager (59%).

In the Republic of Moldova, productivity is the most important, so 34% of employees receive a performance-based salary increase.

Bulgaria is the country with the highest number of employees who receive salary increases only for certain positions (14%), while Romania is the country with the highest number of employees who receive salary increases twice a year (2%).

Romanians and Moldovans are the most optimistic that they will work well even if they don’t get a raise

Employees in Romania and the Republic of Moldova believe that they can best cope with inflation by not restricting their spending, even if their salaries are not increased. Thus, 8.2% of employees from Romania and 7.6% from the Republic of Moldova said that they would cope in this situation. In contrast, in Bulgaria, the majority of workers (36%) say it will be very difficult for them, as monthly contributions and expenses already make up a large part of their salary.

In Hungary, the majority of employees (30%) believe that they can cope if they make small adjustments, such as taking less vacations, attending fewer events and buying cheaper products. On the other hand, in Greece, 22% of employees say they will struggle even without bank rates because their wages are already low and there are no prospects for growth.

“We observe that most workers hope to receive a 20-30% salary increase, but employers have not yet informed them of such an increase. This is an important signal for companies, especially considering that a significant part of people (between 32-43%) said that they would look for another job if their salary was not increased,” says Kostin Tudor, founder and CEO of Undelucram.ro .

Most workers in Central and Eastern Europe say they will need a 20-30% pay rise to keep up with inflation, but 60-77% of them say they have not been told about the increase by their employers, according to a regional survey. survey conducted by Undelucram.ro. The study was conducted in Romania, the Republic of Moldova, Bulgaria, Hungary and Greece.