Abstract:

If, 10-15 years ago, the problem of Romanian workforce leaving abroad was to be seen as an isolated problem, recent studies indicate the confrontation with a permanent phenomenon. If the influence factors were previously sensitive to the international situation and it was not possible to predict how the situation will evolve in the future, it has been found in recent years that the factors that determine this phenomenon are the same irrespective of the reaction of the state authorities to the market requirements. This demonstrates the inability of economic and social policies to adapt and respond to the needs of the workforce. A handy solution for the labour force is migration, but its effects are burdensome for employers. The labour market in the countries of the European Union has a great ability to absorb labour, but each country has to adapt its policies according to the problems of the national economy and those that emerge along with the wave of immigrants.

The number of Romanians abroad grew by 7.3% annually from 2000 up to 2015. Statistical data show that 3.4 million Romanian citizens lived abroad (far above the official estimates made by the authorities) in 2017. The present study proposes a qualitative exploratory analysis of the effects of labour migration and a research on their manifestation: direct effects and indirect effects, positive effects and negative effects, short-term effects but also long-term effects.

Labour migration has a positive short-term effect through the money entering the economy due to work abroad, but it also has a negative long-term effect due to labour deficit and social problems and family-related phenomena. Workforce deficit will directly affect the market in the long run by reducing employers' ability to respond to market demand and indirectly by increasing workforce / employees flow and rising costs. In the short term, the only viable response to labour deficit is immigration, and in the long run it is professional reconversion, so the allocation of new resources that would be preferable to turn from expense into investment.