Roughly two-thirds (62%) of Romanian employees are thinking of changing their job, but the majority do not have a concrete plan, while 18% state that they know what steps they will follow, according to the “Romanians@Work 2025” report.
The report is an extensive national research about the labor market carried out by CareerShift.ro, an organization for consultancy and education in the field of human resources. The study was carried out in June 2025 through a self-administered online questionnaire on a sample of 566 respondents.
The survey shows that only 12% of respondents state that they are advancing with a clear career direction. The rest navigate in a gray area of adaptation (22%) or reinvention (24%).
When it comes to values, Romanian employees put respect and emotional balance before money. Roughly 42% state that they would never compromise their respect and dignity, even if they would receive financial advantages, while 43% place emotional and psychological stability before compensation.
At the same time, 62% of employees would leave for the same salary if they received empathetic management (27.6%), flexible schedule (17.9%), or 100% remote work (16.3%).
“‘Romanians@Work 2025’ is a complex radiography of the labor market in Romania, reaching its second edition after that of 2022. The study also shows that 31% of managers never talk with employees about their professional future, and 73% of companies do not have or do not communicate transparently clear career development programs. This is a warning signal for the way organizations respond to people’s concerns,” said Mihai Zânt, Executive Coach and cofounder of CareerShift HUB.
Compared to similar studies, “Romanians@Work 2025” contains more data about the perspective on mental health at the workplace. It shows, for example, that 52.8% of employees live daily with a high level of stress, increasing from 32% in 2022. Because of constant stress in many workplaces, over 25% of employees who need medical leave choose not to request it. Around 32% identify burnout as the main reason why they would leave their job.
Moreover, the CareerShift HUB report shows that 27.2% of employees are dissatisfied with the company they work for. Only 19% of employees would recommend their company to their best friend without reservations, and 35% do not feel listened to when they try to talk about their career.
“In addition, Romanian employees have become extremely sensitive to the relational atmosphere in organizations. About 73% avoid employers with a toxic culture, a figure that far exceeds the percentage of those who included salary concerns (28%) in the top warning signals,” the report states.
Finally, data shows that Romanian employees are not afraid of the impact of artificial intelligence, but that they want to have the possibility of adequate training. Around 53% see AI as an opportunity, while only 1% consider it a direct threat.
The fear does not come from technology, but from the failure of leadership, given that 38% of employees feel concerned that they will not be adequately trained regarding artificial intelligence.
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