Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Romania, Hungary recruit in Asia to fill labour shortage

SPORTING yellow safety helmets, about 30 men are busy at work on a construction site south of Bucharest, exchanging a few words in Vietnamese.

Faced with a growing labour shortage which threatens their economies, Romania and Hungary are courting Asian workers, going against Hungarian nationalist prime minister Viktor Orban's anti-immigration rhetoric.


"My friend, my friend," a Romanian worker says to his Vietnamese colleague in English at the Bucharest construction site, trying to break the language barrier.

Very little bridges the gap between the two cultures from cigarette breaks, where the Vietnamese use a PVC pipe for an improvised puff, while for lunch a Vietnamese chef prepares several dishes for his compatriots to eat in a dining hall.

District mayor Daniel Baluta says the city was forced to recruit far beyond EU borders.

"We had money to renovate dozens of public housing units, but not the necessary manpower," he said.

In neighbouring Hungary, the government has been quietly opening up the market to foreign workers.

This year it is issuing 75,000 permits, mainly for workers from Ukraine but also some from Vietnam, China and India, up sharply from 13,000 in 2015.

"It is impossible to realise a large-scale project without foreign workers," Eva Toth, a representative of the chemical industry trade union, tells, adding that Hungarian workers should be paid more and have better work conditions to entice them to stay.

In construction alone, an estimated 40,000 to 50,000 additional workers are needed, according to Gyula Pallagi, head of the sector's union.

At one industrial site a new polyol factory owned by Hungarian oil and gas giant MOL about 160 kilometres (100 miles) northeast of Budapest a so-called "container city" has been built to house up to 2,500 foreign workers.

Romania issued more than 11,000 work permits in the first half of the year, already more than the 10,500 granted for the whole of 2018 to fill the shortage left by four million of its own citizens emigrating north to look for better paying jobs.

Vietnamese, Moldovans, and Sri Lankans are most numerous. Many are hired by recruitment companies which specialise in Asian labour, whose number has exploded.

"At first we were solicited for small projects, but for the past three years the demand for workers for large projects has increased significantly," Corina Constantin, director of recruiter Multi Professional Solutions, says.

According to a 2018 study by US-based ManpowerGroup, four out of five Romanian employers have difficulties in filling posts.

With a total workforce of 5.1 million, the country one of the poorest in Europe lacks an estimated 300,000 workers, according to industry groups.

"All sectors are affected but things are particularly bad in industries, where there are strict deadlines and contracts to be respected throughout the year," Christian Parvan, vice-president of the Association of Entrepreneurs, tells.

Parvan says foreign workers get "treated well", and their employers try to integrate them in the conservative EU member state, which unlike many other European countries has not seen a surge of nationalist sentiment.

Baluta, the Bucharest district mayor, says 500-odd Vietnamese employed in construction in his district receive the equivalent of $1,000 net per month, one third higher than the average salary in Romania.

But trade unionist Dumitru Costin criticises what he describes as "abusive behaviour" by many employers, adding that the Asian workforce "is much, much cheaper than the local one".

He says labour inspectors cannot check whether the "minimum standards" of conditions for workers are respected because it is impossible to communicate directly with the employees.

"When they have travelled thousands of miles to find a job, it is obvious that they will obey without flinching and work unpaid overtime for fear of being sent back to their country," says Costin, who heads SNB, one of the country's main trade union confederations.

Across the border in Hungary, trade unionists make the same accusations.

Employers "exploit the language barriers by faking even their working papers", says Pallagi, the head of the construction workers' union.

Zoltan Laszlo, head of the Metallurgical Trade Union, says Hungarian employees likewise are under pressure from their bosses who tell them they are "easily replaceable" by Ukrainians, Mongolians or Vietnamese.

(AFP)

More For You

Pakistan airspace curbs push up costs for Indian airlines

FILE PHOTO: Passengers stand in a queue before entering the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai. (Photo by SUJIT JAISWAL/AFP via Getty Images)

Pakistan airspace curbs push up costs for Indian airlines

TOP Indian airlines Air India and IndiGo are bracing for higher fuel costs and longer journey times as they reroute international flights after Pakistan shut its airspace to them amid escalating tensions over a deadly militant attack in Kashmir.

India has said there were Pakistani elements in Tuesday's (22) attack in which gunmen shot and killed 26 men in a meadow in the Pahalgam area of Indian Kashmir. Pakistan has denied any involvement.

Keep ReadingShow less
Campbell Wilson

Air India CEO Campbell Wilson steps down as Air India Express chair

Air India CEO Campbell Wilson steps down as Air India Express chair

AIR INDIA CEO Campbell Wilson is stepping down as chair of Air India Express, the airline’s low-cost subsidiary. He will be replaced by Nipun Aggarwal, Air India’s chief commercial officer, according to an internal memo sent on Tuesday.

Wilson will also step down from the board of Air India Express. Basil Kwauk, Air India’s chief operating officer, will take his place.

Keep ReadingShow less
Air India eyes Boeing jets rejected by Chinese airlines: report

Tata-owned Air India is interested in purchasing jets that Chinese carriers can no longer accept (Photo credit: Air India)

Air India eyes Boeing jets rejected by Chinese airlines: report

AIR INDIA is seeking to acquire Boeing aircrafts originally destined for Chinese airlines, as escalating tariffs between Washington and Beijing disrupt planned deliveries, reported The Times.

The Tata-owned airline, currently working on its revival strategy, is interested in purchasing jets that Chinese carriers can no longer accept due to the recent trade dispute. According to reports, Tata is also keen to secure future delivery slots should they become available.

Keep ReadingShow less
Infosys forecasts lower annual growth after Trump tariffs cause global uncertainty

The IT service firm said its revenue would either stay flat or grow by up to three per cent

Getty Images

Infosys forecasts lower annual growth after Trump tariffs cause global uncertainty

INDIAN tech giant Infosys forecast muted annual revenue growth last Thursday (17) in an outlook that suggests clients might curtail tech spending because of growing global uncertainty.

The IT service firm said its revenue would either stay flat or grow by up to three per cent in the fiscal year through March 2026 on a constant currency basis. The sales forecast was lower than the 4.2 per cent constantcurrency revenue growth Infosys recorded in the previous financial year.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK retailers

For many retailers, this has meant closing stores, cutting jobs, and focusing on more profitable business segments

Getty

6 UK retailers facing major store closures in 2025

In 2025, several UK retailers are experiencing major store closures as they struggle to navigate financial pressures, rising operational costs, and changing consumer behaviours. These closures reflect the ongoing challenges faced by traditional brick-and-mortar stores in an increasingly digital world. While some closures are part of larger restructuring efforts, others have been driven by financial instability or market shifts that have forced retailers to rethink their business strategies. Let’s take a closer look at six major UK retailers affected by these trends.

1. Morrisons

Morrisons, one of the UK's largest supermarket chains, is undergoing a significant restructuring in 2025. The company has announced the closure of several in-store services, including 52 cafés, 18 Market Kitchens, 17 convenience stores, and various other departments. This move is part of a larger strategy to streamline operations and address rising costs. Morrisons’ parent company, CD&R, has been focusing on reducing overheads and refocusing on core services.

Keep ReadingShow less