In the first nine months, the volume of construction works, as gross series, decreased by 4.1% compared to the same period last year, according to data published by the National Institute of Statistics (INS).
Romania is still on the upward trend, but the construction sector is facing a crisis due to the lack of workers, FPSC president Valentin Petrescu warned at a press conference.
"Of all the data we have, we find that there will be a recession. In Romania, construction is down, although we have overall economic growth. We were left out of the way. It is necessary to have a coherent policy at the government level. The problem of the workers is acute, half of them are missing. We ask who will build in the future", Petrescu said.
FPSC Vice President, Cristian Erbasu, believes that this increase in the minimum wage will reduce the number of incorrect contractors who pay their employees of the books. "Over 70% of construction workers have the minimum wage. Tax benefits will be balanced with the increase in the minimum wage. Many of those who are constructors are not actually constructors, they practice dumping. They have no limit regarding quality. We want to heal a guild", Erbasu said.
Erbasu pointed out that construction companies have attracted the attention of the existing problems last year, problems that have been highlighted and the trend continues. "The peak of the crisis will come in 2020, when major infrastructure works will begin. Building capacity is given by staff. We want to bring the young people back to construction", Erbasu said.
At the national level, about 400,000 workers are missing, FPSC Vice President Sorin Greu drew attention. "We have about 300,000 workers nationwide in construction. We need at least 700,000. We look for workers everywhere, including provincial schools, and we also offer free courses. (...) There is a huge fluctuation of staff, we have come to bid for the workforce. There are cases of companies winning contracts today, and the next day they are out of work, almost everyone leaves for the West", Greu said.
Greu finds that bringing workers from abroad can be a solution, but logistics is very difficult. (source: profit.ro)