Alpha Bank: two possible causes for the drop in employment in Romania in H1

The economic slowdown during H1 this year, less marked than in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Germany, caused in Romania rather lower employment (particularly in services) than lower labour intensity (hours per employer) in other countries – and this can have two causes, according to Alpha Bank chief economist Alpha Bank Romania Ella Kallay.

Either the labour market in Romania is more relaxed compared to other countries (and companies in Romania can afford to fire and later hire personnel to address changes in demand), or the Romanian companies expect the economic slowdown to last longer (in which case, cutting employment is the right option compared to lowering labour intensity).

Romania was among the EU countries with the third lowest employment rate of the population aged 15 - 64, 63%, after Italy and Greece (in H1), but featured the twelfth highest work intensity measured as an average number of hours worked by an employed person in H1, the Alpha Bank analysts pointed out, Bursa.ro reported.

The labour intensity in Romania is lower by almost 10% compared to Poland, which has the highest labour intensity in the EU, and by 1.2% compared to the Czech Republic, but higher by 4.4% compared to Hungary.

In Romania, the slowdown in GDP growth determined the reduction of the number of employed persons and the preservation of the average number of hours worked per employed person, data show.

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