June 19, 2026
Demand for recruitment from abroad concentrates in the trades where the domestic shortage is oldest: rebar workers (fierari betoniști), drywallers (rigipsari), finishers, welders, installers. These are skilled roles, not unskilled labour, and the companies that have been searching the local market for them for a few years usually reach the same conclusion.
Since 8 August 2026 the answer to 'which trades' is no longer a matter of supply and demand: OUG 32/2026 allows the procedure to be initiated only if the occupation appears on the List of Shortage Occupations (Lista ocupațiilor deficitare). The list in force, approved by order of the minister of labour and published in Monitorul Oficial on 6 August 2026, covers 289 occupations identified by their COR code and is updated twice a year.
Recruitment works best when the role is defined clearly up front — not 'construction worker' but the exact trade, with the level of experience required — because the list is written by COR occupation, and the single application demands the same precision.