AHK Romania's Anastasiu: Business people not the state, main culprits for lack of workforce

The business people and not the state are the main culprits for the lack of workforce in Romania, because we have become accustomed to waiting to be given, Dragos Anastasiu, president of the Romanian-German Commerce Chamber (AHK Romania) at the first edition of Working Romania told on Tuesday a speciality conference. "We have a problem with the workforce, undoubtedly, and yet we are not the only ones. Germany has an even bigger problem with the workforce. I think that those responsible for this matter are the business people, and not the state. We have become accustomed to expecting to be given, to have things done for us, to Mr. Minister making the laws and rules. But we do not make ours. A young person or a person who loves, do they leave because they are given more money elsewhere?! No, they don't. When in love, you stay. Now I'm asking the Romanian business people: do we make these people love their craft? Do the teachers in Romania make the children love school, love learning? Have the cities ever wondered whether the people love the city? In general, one's love for their country exists ... Some manifest it through meetings, some at church, some at home... But we, by the way we have understood to behave in the last 30 years, we are the first generation of entrepreneurs of Romania. Have we made people really love their company?! Their craft?! I'm telling you, we haven't. We haven't done that. Have we headed for the active schools to father a dual system, for the teachers? No. We stay at home and wait for the workforce to be given to us. The Romanian entrepreneur's mentality is usually, I know everything, I do everything, I'm the help, I'm the accountant, and you do this, you do that, you do! This does not generate love and then I have a rather serious problem with our mentality," Anastasiu said. He also mentioned that solving the issues in each field cannot be achieved solely at a sectoral level, and things done overnight are not the solution for Romania. "From where I stand, with all sympathy for each field's issues the solution cannot be achieved at sectoral level. I think it would be a mistake that does nothing but say that yes, you did that in constructions, so why don't you do it in the food service industry (horeca)? Moreover, that impact study we have been demanding for so long, it has been finalised at the constructions level or are we launching all kinds of matters and then we come like fire-fighters to put the fire off, be it called OUG 114, or something else?! Because this is what is going on, unfortunately, also because the dialogue is superficial and the impact studies are not there. We do things overnight, and whoever has the louder voice, they have a Memorandum with the Government and something happens. I think this is not the solution for Romania, honestly. It might be good for a field, I don't know ... but there come the others and say it is discrimination. Now we do have minimum wage A, minimum wage B and minimum wage C. Let us ask something: is it normal for things to stand this way?! Shouldn't we rather think of a regional differentiation of the minimum wage?! Here we are, increasing the minimum wage, very nice, but there are disadvantaged regions," the AHK Romania president said.AGERPRES(RO - author: Daniel Badea, editor: Andreea Marinescu; EN - author: Maria Voican, editor: Simona Iacob)