Assuring a Job is not Guaranteed Even with a Romanian Higher Education Diploma
Romania is facing a higher unemployment rate among recent graduates compared to the European Union average, according to statistics from 2024. The country recorded the lowest employment rate among recent graduates, with only 70.1% of young people aged 20 to 34 who had completed their studies and were no longer in training employed. This is almost 10 percentage points below the European Union average of 79.2%.
The issue of a lack of a trained workforce has been a concern for companies in Romania for several years. They have been expressing concerns about the difficulty in finding a workforce with the necessary skills to meet their needs. Companies have been complaining for years about this persistent problem.
One of the key reasons for this situation is the outdated higher education system and regional disparities in Romania. The education system struggles with polarities in access between urban and rural areas and has not fully modernized curricula or teaching methods to meet current labor market demands. This leads to graduates lacking relevant skills.
Another factor is the high early school leaving rate in Romania. About 16.8% of Romanians aged 18–24 left school before completing higher education, which diminishes the overall skill level of young job seekers and increases unemployment risk among youth.
Romania also has one of the highest shares of young people neither in employment, education, nor training (NEET) at 19.4% in 2024. This reflects poor transition from education to the labor market, with poor educational outcomes being a major driver of this.
The COVID-19 pandemic has also had an impact, disrupting education and weakening students' opportunities to develop workplace-relevant skills due to insufficient online education infrastructure.
In comparison, the EU average unemployment rate among university graduates was about 3.8% in 2024. This structural mismatch between education and labor market demands keeps graduate unemployment elevated relative to the EU average.
The data was quoted by Ziarul Financiar, a Romanian financial newspaper. Romania's higher education institutions are competing for candidates, but it seems they are failing to adjust their curricula to the market's needs. This further exacerbates the problem of a lack of a trained workforce in the country.
The lack of a trained workforce is a pressing concern for companies in Romania, as it hinders economic growth and development. The government and education institutions need to address this issue to ensure Romania's workforce is equipped with the necessary skills to meet the demands of the labor market.
Companies in Romania are continually expressing concerns about the difficulty in finding a workforce with the necessary skills due to an outdated education system and a high early school leaving rate, according to the given text. Financial news outlet Ziarul Financiar reported that Romania's higher education institutions are failing to adjust their curricula to the market's needs, which worsens the issue of a lack of a trained workforce in the country. This hindrance in economic growth and development can be addressed by the government and education institutions working together to ensure that graduates have relevant skills to meet the demands of the labor market in self-development and education sectors, as well as general news regarding the economy.
