employer

brand research
2019

country report
romania.
contents.

1 introduction
2 country results
3 sector insights
4 top employers
5 deep dive
6 methodology

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 2

introduction.

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 3

why employer branding matters.
Companies with positive brands get twice as many
applications as companies with negative brands,
and they spend less money on employees.1
70%
Organizations that invest in strong candidate
experience improve quality of hire by 70%.8
50%
of candidates say they wouldn’t
work for a company with a bad
reputation – even with a pay
increase.1
62%
of candidates research
companies on social media
before applying.5
96%
agree that alignment of personal
values with a company’s culture
is a key factor in their satisfac-
tion working there.3
Companies with bad reputations
pay 10% more per hire.4
80%
of workforce leaders agree that a strong employer brand has a significant impact on
their ability to hire great workforce.2 As people work for cultures, not companies, their
perception of you as an employer is of paramount importance. Both recruiters and
candidates cite company culture as one of the most important determinants in
employer choice. Also, if your culture is transparent: candidates actively research the
culture of companies to understand if they’ll fit. If candidates see positive employee
and candidate experiences on review sites, they feel more confident submitting their
resume and making a career move.
67% 76%
Companies with a formal employee engagement Employees who experience a
strategy in place are 67% more likely to improve strong alignment between what
their revenue per full-time equivalent on a year- their employer says about itself
over-year basis.6 and their experience working
there are more likely to
recommend their employer as
a place to work.7
employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 4
the employer brand roadmap.

audit current employer brand
• employer brand story
• external perception
interview employees and leaders assess competitors external market analysis
to understand: for workforce • career motivations
• their perception of your brand and drivers
• gaps and areas for improvement • specific views of your
company improvement

launch employer develop the employer brand create the brand pillars and
brand internally strategy and creative assets employee value proposition
• gain employee
and leadership
feedback

activate employer measure, assess

brand externally and refine

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 5

what is the randstad employer
brand research?
• representative employer brand research
based on perceptions of the general
audience. Optimizing 19 years of successful
employer branding insights.

• independent survey with over 200,000

respondents in 32 countries worldwide.

• reflection of employer attractiveness for the

country’s 150 largest employers known by
at least 10% of the population.

• valuable insights to help employers shape

their employer brand.
employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 6
32 countries surveyed covering more
than 75% of the global economy.
Austria
Australia worldwide
Argentina
Belgium
• over 200,000 respondents
Brazil • 6,162 companies surveyed
Canada
China
Czech Republic sample
France • aged 18 to 65
Germany
Greece • representative on gender
Hong Kong • overrepresentation of age 25 – 44
Hungary
Italy • comprised of students, employed
India and unemployed workforce
Japan
Luxembourg
Malaysia country
New Zealand • 4,205 respondents
Netherlands
Norway
Poland fieldwork
Portugal
Romania • online interviews
Russia • between 24 december 2018 and
Singapore
Spain
11 january 2019
Sweden
Switzerland
UK
length of interview
Ukraine countries surveyed • 16 minutes
USA

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 7

employer brand research set up.

30 companies smart sampling drivers

per respondent
‘do you know this company?’:
determines awareness.
for each company
known
‘would you like to work for
this company?’:
determines attractiveness.
Each respondent is shown 30 companies. Each company is each company is evaluated on:
evaluated only by respondents who are aware of that particular
brand. 01 financially healthy
In order to make sure that the less well known brands are assessed 02 uses latest technology
by a sufficient number of respondents, we make use of a smart
sampling method. 03 very good reputation
04 job security
This method ensures that the lesser known companies are shown to
more respondents in order to realize a sufficient robust sample.
That way the Randstad Employer Brand Research assures 05 career progression
dependable insights for both well known and lesser known
employer brands. 06 gives back to society

07 interesting job content

each company
known 08 pleasant work atmosphere

rating on a set of drivers: 09 work-life balance

determines reason for
attractiveness. 10 attractive salary & benefits

For this research, Randstad partners with Kantar TNS, one of the world's largest insight, information and consultancy networks.

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 8

sample composition in romania
socio-demographics, employment situation, region.
gender situation region
worinkg as permanent staff 73% Bucharest & Ilfov (1) 18%
female 50%
working as temporary staff 3% NorthEast & SouthEast (2) 28%
male 50%
self-employed/freelance 7% Center (3) 12%
seeking/unemployed 4% South (4) 13%
homemaker 3% SouthWest & West (5) 16%
student 8% NorthWest (6) 13%
other 2%
age

gen z (18-24) 15%

millennials (25-34) 29%
gen x (35-54) 49%
boomers (55-64) 8%

education (1) București, Ilfov

(2) Bacău, Botoșani, Brăila, Buzău, Constanța, Galați, Iași, Neamț, Suceava, Tulcea,
Vaslui, Vrancea
lower 6%
(3) Alba, Brașov, Covasna, Harghita, Mureș, Sibiu
middle 28%
(4) Argeș ,Călărași, Dâmbovița, Giurgiu, Ialomița, Prahova, Teleorman
higher 66%
(5) Arad, Caraș-Severin, Dolj, Gorj, Hunedoara, Mehedinți, Olt, Timiș, Vâlcea
(6) Bihor, Bistrița-Năsăud, Cluj, Maramureș, Sălaj, Satu Mare

total sample: 4,205

fieldwork: 24 december 2018 and 11 january 2019

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 9

sample composition in romania

sector function

agriculture 4%
managers 15%
oil & gas 1%
professionals 31%
manufacturing 10% technicians 10%
utilities 3% clerks 21%
construction 6% service/sales 12%
trade 9% skilled agricultural 1%
transportation & storage 5% craft/trade 2%
machine operators 3%
accommodation & food 1%
elementary occupations 2%
ICT 10%
armed forces occupations 2%
finance & insurance 5%
real estate 1%
professional & scientific 6%
administration & support 4%
public administration 8%
education 9%
base: currently employed (n=3,491)
healthcare 5%
social work 2%
arts & entertainment 3%

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 10

country

EVP drivers.
employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 11
what potential employees want
when choosing an employer.
most important criteria europe

attractive salary & benefits 70% 59%

pleasant work atmosphere 57% 51%

job security 54% 49%

career progression 50% 37%

work-life balance 44% 46%

click here for a breakdown of all results by socio-demographic

profile and trends for the last 5 years.

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 12

perception of employer offer in romania and the region.

Understanding the gap between what employees want and what they think
employers offer in romania and in the region provides valuable insights into
building an employer brand.

employers in romania employers in europe

are perceived to offer.
1 financially healthy
2 very good reputation
3 uses latest technologies
4 job security
5 career progression
6 attractive salary & benefits
7 pleasant work atmosphere
8 interesting job content
9 work-life balance
10 gives back to society
are perceived to offer.
1 financially healthy
2 uses latest technologies
3 very good reputation
4 job security
5 career progression
6 interesting job content
7 attractive salary & benefits
8 pleasant work atmosphere
9 work-life balance
10 gives back to society

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 13

gap between what (potential) employees seek
and what employees perceive employers to offer in romania.

Employers in a country may not always be perceived to be

offering what (potential) employees are looking for. Below you
see the 3 main attributes employees look for but which they
believe employers do not sufficiently offer.

gap top 3

1 attractive salary & benefits

2 pleasant work atmosphere

3 job security

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 14

what do potential employees want
by generational profile.
gen z (18-24) gen x (35-54)

33%
of the gen z’s are looking for good training in their
employer. This is higher when compared to older
workforce.
46%
of the gen x’s find a good work-life balance a very
important pull factor towards an employer. Among
gen z and boomers, this factor is deemed less
important.

millennials (25-34) boomers (55-64)

56% 40%
of the millennials seek career opportunities. Other of the boomers are looking for financial health in
generations are less interested in this offering their employer. This is less so among the other
from their employer. cohorts.

click here for a breakdown of all results by socio-demographic

profile and trends for the last 5 years.

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 15

important attributes
by type of contract.
most important attributes

62%
attractive salary & benefits
74%

49%
pleasant work atmosphere
57%

48%
job security

4%
57%

48%
career progression
51%
of today’s workforce
works part-time. 43%
work-life balance
45%

part-time workers full-time workers

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 16

switchers and
stayers

in focus.
employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 17
changing employer
romania vs europe.

switchers: changed employer in the past year.

romania 21%
europe 19%

stayers: stayed with their employer in the past year.

romania 79%
europe 81%

intenders: plan to change employer within the next year.

romania 36%
europe 27%

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 18

how do romanian workers
look for and find employers.

channels used to look for and find employers

55% 29%
personal connections / referrals staffing agencies
39% 16%

50% 26%
recruiters linkedin
34% 10%

47% 26%
google facebook
30% 18%

46% 18%
company career site public employment services
24% 7%

34% 3%
job fairs twitter
13% 2%

looked for another employer found another employer

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 19

most important attributes
switchers vs stayers.
most important attributes

63%
attractive salary & benefits
72%

54%
pleasant work atmosphere
57%

47%
job security
56%

21% 79% career progression

50%

50%

switchers: changed stayers: stayed with their

employer in employer in work-life balance
44%

44%
the past year. the past year.

switchers stayers

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 20

most important attributes
intenders.
most important attributes

attractive salary & benefits 70%

pleasant work atmosphere 57%

career progression 53%

36% job security 50%

intenders: plan to
change employer
within the next year. work-life balance 43%

intenders

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 21

channels to look for employers
intenders.
channels to look for employers

personal connections / referrals 54%

recruiters (agencies/headhunters 54%

google 47%

53% company career site 46%

of last year’s switchers**

intend to switch again
next year. job fairs 34%

** n= 863 switched last year

intenders stayers

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 22

why do romanians
stay or leave.
main reasons to stay

job security 50%

pleasant work atmosphere 49%

attractive salary & benefits 48%

work-life balance 37%

financially healthy 34%

main reasons to leave

compensation too low 57%

limited career path 45%

lack of recognition/ rewards 38%

work-life balance issues 24%

organization not financially stable 23%

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 23

what factors do romanians stay for
reasons to stay, by profile.
gen z (18-24) gen x (35-54)

27% 34%
of the gen z’s are staying with their employer if of the gen x’s stay with their employer if they are
they use latest technologies. This is higher when conveniently located. Among younger
compared to older workforce. generations, this factor is deemed less important.

millennials (25-34) boomers (55-64)

39% 45%
of the millennials stay if they have good work-life of the boomers are more likely to stay with their
balance. Gen z are less interested in this offering current employer if they are financial healthy.
from their employer. This is less so among the younger cohorts.

click here for a breakdown of all results.

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 24

what factors do romanians leave for
reasons to leave, by profile.
gen z (18-24) gen x (35-54)

28% 25%
of the gen z’s are leaving their employer if they of the gen x’s leave their employer if they are
have insufficient flexible work options. This is financially unstable. Among younger generations,
higher when compared to older workforce. this factor is deemed less important.

millennials (25-34) boomers (55-64)

46% 68%
of the millennials are likely to leave if they feel of the boomers are more likely to leave with their
they have a limited career path with their employer if their compensation is too low. This is
employer. less so among the other cohorts.

click here for a breakdown of all results.

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 25

willingness to forfeit salary for
more work security.
amount of salary employees are willing to forfeit

0% romania
16% 1%-5%

26%
6%-10%
11%-15%
16%-20%
21%
more than 20%
6% don’t know is willing to forfeit more than
10% of their salary in this
exchange

6%
europe

9%
19% 16%
is willing to forfeit more than
10% of their salary in this
18% exchange

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 26

ideal employer

in focus.
employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 27
33% of the romanians prefer to work for
large (multinational) corporation.
preferred company type

3% start up gen z (18-24) gen x (35-54)

12% 9% small to midsize business

4%
local family-owned business
multinational
non-profit / government
34% 33%
own business
would prefer to work for a large would prefer to work for a large
no strong preference (multinational) corporation
(multinational) corporation

32% millennials (25-34) boomers (55-64)

33%
34% 36%
would rather have their would rather have their
own business own business
6%

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 28

company type preference
reasons why.
multinational (33%) own business (32%) small to midsize (9%)
job security work-life balance pleasant work atmosphere

attractive salary & benefits flexible arrangements work-life balance

financial health pleasant work atmosphere job security

non-profit / government (6%) local family-owned (4%) start-up (3%)

job security pleasant work atmosphere career progression

work-life balance work-life balance interesting job content

attractive salary & benefits job security pleasant work atmosphere

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 29

company type preference
switchers vs stayers.
company type preference

32%
multinational
33%

30%
own business
33%

8%
no strong preference

32% 33%
13%

10%
small to midsize
9%
of the switchers prefer of the stayers prefer to
to work for a large have their 7%

(multinational) own business. non-prfit / government organization

6%

corporation.
switchers stayers

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 30

96% of the romanians
check potential employer’s reputation.
channels for reputation check most often used

gen z (18-24) gen x (35-54)

45% 58%
company website 59%
general articles on the internet (excl. company website) 56%
opinions of friends and family 52%
general articles in the press (excl. the internet) 43% facebook general articles on the internet
(excl. company website)
physical presence (e.g. shops, stores, restaurants) 36%
facebook 36%
blogs 31%
advertising (television, posters, radio ads, online… 26%
millennials (25-34) boomers (55-64)

55% 71%
linkedin 24%
job boards 18%
other 9%
opinions of friends and family company website
twitter 7%

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 31

sector

insights.
employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 32
top performing sectors in romania
by awareness and attractiveness.
high

IT technology

high awareness
attractiveness

services FMCG
Having a high
automotive awareness means that
finance
telecom employers in the sector
industrial-manufacturing
oil & gas are widely known.
human resources
high attractiveness
A sector with high
attractiveness
contains more highly
attractive companies
retail than other sectors.
low

low awareness high

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 33

romania’s sectors score best
on these 3 EVP drivers.
top 3 EVP drivers

sector 1 2 3

01 IT technology uses latest technologies financially healthy very good reputation

02 services uses latest technologies financially healthy very good reputation

03 FMCG financially healthy very good reputation uses latest technologies

04 automotive financially healthy uses latest technologies very good reputation

05 finance financially healthy very good reputation job security

06 telecom uses latest technologies financially healthy very good reputation

07 industrial-manufacturing financially healthy uses latest technologies job security

08 oil & gas financially healthy very good reputation job security

09 human resources very good reputation uses latest technologies financially healthy

10 retail financially healthy very good reputation job security

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 34

top

employers.
employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 35
top employers in romania.
top 10 employers 2019

01 Huawei

02 IBM

03 Ford

04 Ubisoft Srl

05 Oracle

06 Atos IT

07 Gameloft

08 Continental

09 CGS

10 Bosch

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 36

romania’s top companies
top 3 EVP drivers of the top 5 companies.
top 3 EVP drivers
top 5 companies 1 2 3

1 Huawei uses latest technologies financially healthy very good reputation

2 IBM uses latest technologies financially healthy very good reputation

3 Ford financially healthy uses latest technologies very good reputation

4 Ubisoft Srl uses latest technologies financially healthy very good reputation

5 Oracle financially healthy uses latest technologies very good reputation

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 37

top employers
by EVP driver.
EVP driver 1 2 3

attractive salary & benefits IBM Oracle Ubisoft Srl

career progression IBM Huawei Global E

financially healthy IBM Huawei Oracle

gives back to society Global E Atos IT Star

interesting job content Ubisoft Srl Gameloft Huawei

job security IBM Continental Atos IT

pleasant work atmosphere Gameloft Ubisoft Srl IBM

uses latest technologies Huawei IBM Ubisoft Srl

very good reputation IBM Huawei Oracle

work-life balance Global E Atos IT Eaton

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 38

deep dive

appendix 1.
employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 39
what potential employees want
the most important criteria when choosing an employer.
important criteria europe

attractive salary & benefits 59%

70%

pleasant work atmosphere 51%

57%

job security 49%

54%

career progression 50% 37%

work-life balance 44% 46%

flexible arrangements 33% 36%

financially healthy 29% 32%

good training 28% 26%

strong management 24% 17%

quality products 20% 15%

very good reputation 19% 18%

uses latest technologies 17% 13%

interesting job content 14% 32%

location 13% 27%

diversity & inclusion 12% 16%

gives back to society 10% 17%

Characteristics highest rated by the labor force. Stressing these elements or improving them
is critical for your EVP because they contribute most to the strength of your employer brand.

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 40

EVP driver importance
by gender.
67%
attractive salary & benefits
73% 20%
quality products
20%
55%
pleasant work atmosphere
59% 23%
good reputation
16%
53%
job security
55% 21%
uses latest technologies
14%
48%
career progression
53% 16%
interesting job content
13%
40%
work-life balance
47% 13%
location
13%
30%
flexible arrangements
37% 12%
diversity & inclusion
12%
31%
financially healthy
27% 11%
gives back to society
9%
29%
good training
28%

25%
strong management
23%
male
female

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 41

EVP driver importance
by education.
72% 29% 15%
attractive salary & benefits 70% financially healthy 28% interesting job content 14%
54% 27% 16%

56% 28% 12%

pleasant work atmosphere 60% good training 28% location 13%
46% 35% 21%

54% 27% 12%

job security 57% strong management 18% diversity & inclusion 12%
40% 19% 14%

52% 18% 9%
career progression 48% quality products 24% gives back to society 9%
39% 24% 20%

46% 18%
work-life balance 40% very good reputation 22%
33% 30%

33% 16% higher

flexible arrangements 32% uses latest technologies 19% middle
37% 24%
lower

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 42

EVP driver importance
by age.
59% 21% 20%
73% 27% 13%
attractive salary & benefits financially healthy interesting job content
73% 30% 14%
71% 40% 13%

55% 33% 13%

57% 28% 12%
pleasant work atmosphere good training location
58% 27% 14%
51% 25% 12%

42% 21% 16%

53% 21% 12%
job security strong management diversity & inclusion
57% 26% 11%
61% 34% 11%

49% 25% 11%

56% 18% 10%
career progression quality products gives back to society
48% 20% 9%
46% 20% 9%

34% 25%
45% 18%
work-life balance very good reputation
46% 19%
40% 18% gen z (18-24)
38% 23% millennials (25-34)
37% 15%
flexible arrangements uses latest technologies
30% 16% gen x (35-54)
28% 21%
boomers (55-64)

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 43

what factors do romanians
stay or leave for.
reasons to stay reasons to leave

job security 50% compensation too low 57%

pleasant work atmosphere 49% limited career path 45%
attractive salary & benefits 48% lack of recognition/ rewards 38%
work-life balance 37% work-life balance issues 24%
financially healthy 34% organization not financially stable 23%
career progression 32% insufficient flexible work options 21%

location 32% organization offers little or no advantages 21%

flexible arrangements 32% organization shows poor leadership 18%

interesting job content 27% commuting time too long 18%

good reputation 27% poor relationship with direct manager 17%

strong management 23% insufficient challenges 16%

good training 22% other, namely... 4%

quality products 19%

uses latest technologies 16%
diversity & inclusion 15%
gives back to society 11%
don't know 5%

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 44

methodology

appendix 2.
employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 45
methodology
why smart sampling?
Since REBR 2017 companies are evaluated between 140 and 400
respondents. The actual number of evaluations per company
depends on the awareness of the company.
The error margin is determined by the % of respondents giving
a certain answer and the sample size to which the question has
been asked. The highest error margin occurs when 50% of the
respondents give a certain answer. The error margin is lower
when 30% (or 70%) of the respondents give a certain answer.
example
140 respondents have evaluated company X. Of these 140, 50% find the
company nice to work for. Taking the error margin at n=140/50% into
account, the real answer lies between 42% and 58%.
400 respondents have evaluated company Y and of these 400, 50% finds
the company nice to work for. Taking the error margin at n=400/50% into
account, the real answer lies between 45% and 55%.
1200 respondents have evaluated company Z and of these 1200, 50%
finds the company nice to work for. Taking into account the error margin
at n=1200/50%, the real answer lies between 47% and 53%.
Therefore, the difference in error margin is very small between n=1200
and n=400 evaluations per company (5% margin vs 3% margin at the most).
As such it can be concluded that maximum 400 evaluations per company
are sufficient in order to determine a reliable attractiveness per company.
In practice, this means that every company with an awareness over 35%
will have max 400 respondents evaluating the company. Companies with an
awareness below 35% will be evaluated by 140 to 400 people (depending
on awareness).
employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 46
source bibliography.

1 Betterteam Blog 5 HR in Asia, Do You Think Your Employer Brand Can Be Ruined by
https://www.betterteam.com/blog/employer-branding Social Media?
www.hrinasia.com/employer-branding/do-you-think-your-employer-brand-can-
2 PwC, A marketplace without boundaries? Responding to disruption be-ruined-by-social-media/
https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/ceo-survey/2015/assets/pwc-18th-annual-
global-ceo-survey-jan-2015.pdf 6 The role of engagement
https://www.aberdeen.com/hcm-essentials/role-engagement-performance-
3 JWTInside, “The Evolving Culture-scape and Employee Expectation” management/
Research Study 2014, High Performance Employees
https://www.slideshare.net/JWTINSIDE/culture-scape-1028-sm 7 The Employer Brand Credibility Gap
https://www.webershandwick.com/uploads/news/files/EmployerBrandCredibilit
4 Harvard Business Review, A Bad Reputation Costs a Company at yGap.pdf
Least 10% More Per Hire
https://hbr.org/2016/03/a-bad-reputation-costs-company-at-least-10-more- 8 The true cost of a bad hire
per-hire http://go.brandonhall.com/the_true_cost_of_a_bad_hire

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 47

company
specific slide.
your company
• What does it do/ what is it known for
• Active in x countries: name countries

few facts about their EVP (if any)

• Abc
• Abc

how can the RS consultant help them

• Ipient re laceatu riateni temquis coraectem volorro
totasi ipsam dis sum quissinvenis enisti ut faccae.
• Obita qui qui as modisque pos est re, officataque dem
ut atur sum nis assi nimo vollab ilit ratus, vid ut volo rem
la idebis etur ressi deri dolo bearum remporenis.
• Alita ex ellupta tecusam que non repuda nimpe solum am
dolecti re il ipsam fugiam volorum quam.

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 48

let’s talk.

Our research has many insightful, but complex insights so we'd love the opportunity to walk you through this document, share
our thoughts and answer any questions you might have.

name organization name organization name organization name organization

name contact name contact name contact name contact
person person person person

employer brand research 2019, country report romania | 49