Arctic, the biggest producer of electrical home appliances in Romania, is competing with Pitesti-based carmaker Automobile Dacia for engineers and specialists, at a time when the market is experiencing one of the most severe shortages of technical workers in recent years.

"Most people are recruited in Targoviste, where we tend to hire engineers and specialists. We also recruit people in Pitesti, but we aren't as successful because we have to compete with Dacia for the same positions: engineers, technicians, electricians," says Mihai Dragoi, a human resources manager with Arctic.

While Arctic is looking for employees for its plant in Gaesti (Dambovita county), (for which it recruited over 300 people last year), Dacia remains the largest employer in the area, with more than 13,000 employees.

Moreover, this year Dacia plans to recruit over 3,600 employees, particularly in the area of Arges county, and around the borders of neighbouring counties.

Technical university graduates have become an increasingly rare "commodity" for employers, with the Polytechnic University having been removed from young people's priority lists in recent years. Companies operating in the field of engineering consulting services, programming or constructions are constantly adding to their staff, with many announcing hundreds of new jobs each year. An engineer with several years of experience earns, on average, 1,000 euros per month, but can earn as much as 3,000-4,000 euros per month.

In 2007, the 350 people Arctic recruited largely came from Targoviste and were hired in specialised positions in Gaesti plant, where the company produces refrigerators and refrigerating display cases. At present, the company has 2,300 employees, of whom 2,100 work at the Gaesti plant.

The engineers who left Arctic headed to Bucharest and were recruited by Renault and Iveco. "Last