Romania is experiencing an alarming situation as far as the employment of workforce is concerned, because approximately 10% of the population has to provide for the remaining 90%, Paul Pacuraru, the new Minister of Labour, Family and Equal Opportunities says in his first interview for the printed press since taking office.
"We have 21 million inhabitants, of which the active population accounts for 9.8 million and the inactive population for 8.4 million inhabitants (46%). Out of the active population, the employment rate stands at less than 9 million inhabitants, with the rest of them being unemployed. Out of the 9 million, only 6 million are salaried employees, with the rest being other self-employed workers who do not receive a salary and produce just enough to support themselves. Out of the salaried people, approximately 2.5 million work in constructions and industry and the remaining 3.2 million are employed by the public and services sector," the Labour minister believes.
Therefore, Pacuraru adds, almost half of the salaried employees (43%) and almost 10% of the total population of Romania are directly productive and generating added value (construction and industry), while the rest are public and services sector employees. "Services in their turn drive the economy and the economic development. The estimate is a bit exaggerated here, but expresses a relevant ratio," Pacuraru explains.
The minister adds that with such a contradiction in the system, nobody has been able to solve and improve the economic performance. The solution is to ensure growth of the active population and of the number of salaried employees. "This way the social state of the population will improve and we will have money for budgets and assistance," he explains.
The number of salaried people in the economy has been dwindling over the last 16 years, progressively going
