According to Government Decision no. 35/27.01.2017, the Romanian labour market can receive 5,500 new foreign workers this year. The same quota was established for each of the last four years.

The types and numbers of newly admitted workers for 2017, as approved by the Government, include 3,000 permanent workers, 100 trainees, 400 seasonal workers, 500 highly-qualified workers and 700 technology workers (transferred within the same company), among others. In 2016, there were 2,887 work permits issued, an increase of 14.8% from 2015, when there were 2,535 permits issued.

A necessity identified at the national level is that of ensuring the supply of necessary labour in some sectors or occupations which cannot be fulfilled by Romanian workers. To this end, the 2017 Draft Action Plan for the implementation of the National Strategy for Immigration (2015-2018) establishes the monitoring of local labour markets by the competent authorities, in order to identify deficits and to establish a labour market quota for foreign workers that would respond to the identified deficits.

See the governmental decision