For years, Romania's job market appeared resilient with rising employment, growing wages, and low unemployment, supported by consumption fueled by fiscal expansion and accessible credit. However, this growth model is reaching its limits as the economy faces new challenges.

Romania ended 2025 in technical recession, with Q4 GDP contracting 1.9% and full-year growth reaching only 0.6%. The main drag has been private consumption, previously the growth engine for over a decade. With the budget deficit climbing above 9% of GDP in 2024, fiscal consolidation became unavoidable, leading to tax increases and spending controls that pushed inflation close to double digits.

Employment has declined from its early 2025 peak of 5.18 million in March to 5.12 million by December. Job vacancies sit at 0.6%, among the lowest in the European Union. Manufacturing employment dropped by 25,000 people year-on-year in December 2025, while the IT sector has shifted from volume hiring toward specialisation and efficiency.

The structural shift toward automation is accelerating. According to the International Federation of Robotics, global industrial robot density has doubled over seven years. A survey by Reveal Marketing Research found that 68% of Romanians have used AI tools occasionally, with 44% relying on them for work tasks. McKinsey estimates that AI adoption could add €30-50 billion to Romania's GDP by 2040, but may also eliminate routine jobs while creating demand for high-skilled positions.

"2026 is likely to mark the bottom of the current cycle," said Valentin Tătaru, Chief Economist at ING Romania. "By 2027, conditions should improve, yet the recovery is unlikely to generate the same breadth of job creation seen in past expansions."