More than 801TPTP3T of employers in Romania plan to increase salaries in 2026, but differentiation in the labor market will increasingly be done through benefits packages and flexible working policies, according to a survey.
”After a year marked by moderate revenue growth, more than 801TPTP3T of employers are planning pay increases in 2026. This year, companies will focus on benefits as a key differentiator, with individual bonuses and health insurance on an upward trend”, says the HR Trends 2026 study, conducted by Randstad Romania.
According to the source cited by Agerpres, the competitive pay and benefits package remains by far the most important factor in attracting talent, followed by work-life balance and flexible working policies.
„Pentru CEO și liderii de HR, 2026 reprezintă un an al menținerii echilibrului între dezvoltare și prudență operațională; în timp ce majoritatea companiilor planifică măriri salariale, doar 34% se așteaptă la o creștere a veniturilor. Leadership-ul trebuie să depășească etapa creșterilor salariale reactive și să adopte o strategie de compensare completă – îmbinând beneficiile financiare cu cele de wellbeing – și eficiența bazată pe AI, pentru a-și asigura un avantaj competitiv pe o piață în care 53% dintre lideri prevăd că tehnologia va remodela forța de muncă”, said Dagmara Chudzinska-Matysiak, managing director, Randstad Romania, in a statement.
În acest an, 83% dintre companii intenționează să crească salariile pentru personalul white-collar (TESA – tehnic, economic și socio-administrativ), în timp ce 85% estimează creșteri pentru personalul blue-collar (muncitori), precizează sursa citată. Astfel, doar 17% (pentru poziții white-collar) și 14% (pentru blue-collar) dintre angajatori se așteaptă ca salariile să rămână neschimbate.
Of the companies implementing increases in 2025, 27% reported a pay increase of 4-5% for white-collar employees, compared with 23% for blue-collar roles, highlighting a slightly more cautious approach to operational roles, the research also shows.
The majority of respondents believe that their salary levels are in line with the competition, however 23% admit that they offer below-market remuneration for similar positions, a factor that can complicate recruitment efforts.
Some 38% of companies do not plan to implement/access flexible working arrangements in 2026, while 29% are exploring more agile models such as part-time, project-based, or temporary workforce. An interesting and growing trend is for „Digital Nomad” arrangements, which allow complete location independence to attract niche talent.
In organizations with work-at-home policies, working at home two days a week remains the most common model, while there is a slight increase in fully flexible models compared to last year. New working paradigms are also visible: 3% of employers have implemented the 4-day working week.
According to the study, although salary remains the main driver of staff turnover (79%), employers are also losing talent for non-financial reasons. Thus, 391TPTP3T of departures are due to lack of advancement opportunities, while 291TPTP3T of employees choose to leave due to excessive workload.
In this context, the winners in the „war for talent” will be those who invest in role design and organizational culture, offering more than just pay adjustments.
The research also shows that in 2025, 371TPTP3T of companies expanded their workforce, 381TPTP3T kept it stable and 251TPTP3T reduced the number of employees.
Most of the increases were limited to 1-6%, while more significant growth of over 15% was reported by 22% of the expanding companies.
„Looking ahead, 301TPTP3T of respondents plan to increase headcount in 2026, with business development remaining the main reason for hiring, albeit at slightly lower levels than in previous years. Hiring demand is strongest in engineering and manufacturing, while hiring intentions in customer relations departments have declined, which could be a sign of the consequences of automation, given that 44% of companies plan to integrate AI into this area”say the authors.
Atragerea talentelor, în special în IT și vânzări, rămâne o provocare – nu doar din cauza așteptărilor salariale (considerate nerealiste de 49% dintre angajatori), ci și a unui deficit real de competențe: jumătate dintre companii raportează lipsa de experiență specifică domeniului a candidaților.
Hiring from non-EU/EEA (European Economic Area) countries remains limited but stable, with 6% of companies preferring white-collar positions and 15% preferring blue-collar positions, the source said.
On the other hand, 381TPTP3T of companies actively support and plan to expand the use of AI, up from 351TPTP3T in 2025. Launching new IT and AI systems are among the fastest growing measures adopted to address HR challenges. Of note, more than half of business leaders foresee a potential decrease in jobs due to automation.
