The rising construction market is experiencing an increasingly severe skills shortage, says Florian Florescu, financial manager of Arcom Bucharest construction company.

A massive skilled workforce exodus has taken place in the construction sector after 1990, with people going to foreign markets like Germany or Israel.

The "void" left by the disappearance of an important link, such as the foreman, has yet to be filled even today.

There are no more specialised training schools for the construction field now and the Romanian companies in this business are interested to suggest the Education Ministry to work with them to be able to reopen trade schools.

Construction workers are among the worst paid Romanians, with a net monthly average of 183 euros in June, while the net average salary in the entire economy stands at 235 euros.

The rising orders and business in the construction sector have yet to drive wages up.

Arcom Bucharest derived 17.5 million-euro turnover in the first half of this year, an increase of 9% from the same time last year. "We were unable to do any work in the first three months of the year because of the bad weather. We expect to reach a turnover of some 41 million euros this year, an increase of 10% from last year," Florian Florescu adds.

The profit rate in the first half stood at about 1.9%, while Arcom has budgeted a profit rate of 2.15% for the entire 2006.

Arcom was the foreign arm of the Romanian construction industry before 1989, but later was faced with a collapse in orders from abroad and the loss of some of its traditional export markets in the Middle East and Northern Africa.

Under the circumstances, Arcom has gradually shifted focus to the Romanian market and partnerships with foreign companies.

Some of the most important projects Arcom is carrying out at the moment include Central