With the European manufacturing industry being in a constant technological evolution and the production process becoming more and more complex, companies across Europe keep seeking skilled and reliable yet cost-effective labour.
Given their technical skills and expertise, with hands-on experience in assembly lines and machinery handling, alongside a strong work ethic and adaptability, Romanian workers have become in the past few years a top choice for the manufacturing sector across Europe.
We further explore these and emphasize on how and why the Romanian manufacturing workers are able to strengthen your company productivity.
1.Technical expertise and hands-on experience talents
With approximately 92,000 students enrolled in vocational education programs in Romania in 2024 (source) and over 4,200 partnership contracts established between vocational education and training (VET) schools and economic operators (source), the Romanian labour workforce in the manufacturing sector is proven to have a strong foundation of practical and hands-on experience with production equipment, and overall manufacturing tasks.
Among the vast Romanian manufacturing talent pool we find CNC operators, assembly workers, production line operators or even maintenance workers, all of them having the right skills set required to navigate today's manufacturing environment.
Alongside their machine and production skills, Romanian workers bring a good understanding of the production process and assembly line processes, enabling them to optimize production and improve the overall quality of products.
Romanian manufacturing workers have gained experience via the vocational educational system, alongside the hand-on experience in Romanian factories. Apart from these, many of them have gained valuable experience while already working abroad in different countries and for European companies.
All these technical skills allow manufacturing companies to have an experienced workforce that quickly adapts to new ways of working and actively contributes to improved productivity.
2.Work ethic, reliability and adaptability as key traits
Romanian workers are known for being reliable, easily adaptable and with exceptional work ethic principals, key characteristics in the manufacturing sector, being able to exceed the performance expectations.
Romanian employees are reliable and consistent in their work and able to focus on their daily tasks and targets, oftentimes being willing to go that extra mile and seek new challenges and solutions. These traits make them a fit for the high peak seasons in the production sectors, as well as a good choice for those extra hours needed for the machinery maintenance.
It is often that manufacturing plants have to undergo processes and technological upgrades, with the Romanian workers proven themselves to be able to quickly adapt to these new ways of working, having an overall flexibility that ensures your factory can have a smooth transition during periods of change in the production flow.
Being reliable is one of the main characteristics of Romanian employees as they show initiative in taking new responsibilities and following the quality standards and protocols, ensuring that their employers have a constant boost in productivity and production quality.
3.Easiness in integration and high cultural compatibility
EF English Proficiency Index 2024 ranks Romania 15th out of 113 countries, with a score of 596, placing it in the "Very High Proficiency" category (source), therefore Romanian workers have a good level of English language, alongside oftentimes being proficient enough in other languages, such as French, Italian, Spanish and even German. This facilitates good communication with these employees, as well as ensures that they quickly adapt to the new social and cultural norms. Moreover, having language skills makes them adaptable to the work environment and helps in a fast understanding of all the processes and workforce protocols.
As the manufacturing sector becomes more and more automated, plant workers must be adapted to the fast paced environment. Romanian workers are known for being curious and collaborative at the same time, ensuring that they quickly adapt to the new environment and integrate well in the team.
Romanian workers have additional high levels of interpersonal skills, bringing a positive attitude and desire to collaborate with the other employees, easing the cultural compatibility among team members and fostering a sense of belonging.
4.Cost-effective and increased productivity
Romanian workers often require less training, as they usually already bring valuable experience and expertise, with this advantage contributing to a decrease in the onboarding costs by hiring a workforce ready to be productive.
The workforce cost-effectiveness goes beyond wages and it’s the overall value a worker can bring and the Romanian workers with their skills and experience provide a high level of productivity. The high productivity levels that the Romanian laborers can bring means that your company can quickly have a return on investment in terms of workforce cost.
Moreover, Romanian workers can actively participate in your cost-effective strategy by being reliable and stable on their jobs, decreasing the turnover rate and with it the hiring costs.
5.EU labor mobility compliant
The European Union’s freedom of movement allows companies to hire workers from member states without complex visa requirements. This simplifies the recruitment process, reduces compliance risks, and ensures that employees work in full accordance with EU labor laws, providing clarity and peace of mind for both employers and workers.
This ensures a streamline recruitment process that ultimately brings multiple advantages to manufacturing sectors as they are oftentimes quickly able to upscale the production processes and have a fast onboarding process that still ensures productivity.
With the European manufacturing sector being a highly competitive one and in need of a reliable, experienced and cost-effective labour force, Romania becomes the country of choice for employers seeking to hire hands-on technical experienced staff that could help decrease the production costs but still be able to maintain the high level of quality in production.
With this in mind, Randstad Romania crossboarding services are more than a fit for your recruitment needs, helping our partners across Europe to keep up with the increasing demands in terms of experienced manufacturing workers.