Job Discussion Forums

[ghost]

Question: How long do you think it will take for salaries in Romania to increase once they join the Euro. Union in 2007?

Ghost visited Romania in 2003 - and the lack of teaching positions (Ghost was based in Brasov) was evident, and for the remote possibility of teaching the salary on offer was so low (about $1.5 U.S. per hour) that it was not worth it....

For people who are in Romania now, do you anticipate rapid change with the entry to Europe, or do you think it will take years to get on terms with other countries?

Ghost did not last long in Romania, because it found the teaching opportunities to be virtually non existent, and the people quite a bit less friendly than the country in which ghost was teaching at the time (Turkey).

Ghost taught in Dominican Republic (quite good fun, but low salary), and then Taiwan (good salary but boring place to live). Ghost is now planning the next journey.

Thanks for any information.

Ghost

[Bebsi]

From January 01, 2007, all salaries in Romania will be 3,000 euro. Teachers will earn about 4,000 a month.

[scot47]

But not for spooky Canadians !

Seriously Bulgaria and Romania are no-no's in terms of teaching English. Unless you want to take a vow of poverty.

[Mike_2003]

[Bebsi]

Noooooooooooo, I meant they will earn 4K in the state sector. EFL teachers will retain their current high salaries of course.

An unnamed representative of Intercontinental House in Turnu Magurele, a well-known English training establishment, is quoted as saying "Our teachers here will continue to enjoy the opulent lifestyle they have always enjoyed, but we have no plans to increase their salaries. EFL teachers have been living extravagantly on what is a very good local salary for many years, and have never complained".

I can only assume that all the BMWs and Mercs one sees these days on Bucharest's streets belong to EFL teachers????

[naturegirl321]

[CairoMig]

Salaries will remain as they are. Poland, Hungary, Lativa, Lithuania and the rest joined last year and what happened? They all moved to the UK... so life just gets more expensive like when the Euro began but salaries unsurprisingly stay the same. I worked in Romania for 2 years from 01-03 and was back last May and last week. Things are more expensive, from what my friends say salaries haven't moved as fast! It's still a fascinating place to live, but I don't think I'd live there now even on an expat salary. 5 years ago you could live like a king, and save loads if I was there now I would have money but I doubt I'd earn enough to buy an apartment like I did then.

[Bebsi]

The reality is that you still canot compare living costs in the UK with Romanian living costs. Sadly, incomes cannot be compared either, unless of course you are one of the individuals driving around in Mercs/BMWs/Audis and living in enormous villas who appear to be in the rather fortunate position of making a lot of money without working! Of course, one must question whether such earnings are strictly legal??

Romania doesn't have a significant wealth-creating middle-class like western European countries, although there is now a small professional/business middle-class that is starting to grow. I anticipate that this better educated sector will expand significantly in the next few years, and will make a huge impct on the local economy.

If you are making what amounts to more or less the equivalent of a western professional income, you can still live very well here. You would also, I acknowledge, be in the minority.

[dracotei]

Regarding salaries, it's sort of tricky. I lived in Italy when there was no euro. Life was good even for my illegal buddies. Also, Sept 11 had not happened and that made a huge difference. When they made the transition from the lira to the euro, salaries did increase, but the prices (of everything but real estate) pretty much doubled. My fear is that the same will happen in Romania. If anyone has any intelligent thoughts, do share. Economics is not my forte.

[Bebsi]

I was living in Ireland in early 2002, when the euro was introduced. In an instant, prices soared, but incomes didn't. Salaries remained the same of course, but a supermarket basket that cost let's say, 80 punt in December 2001 suddenly, in January 2002, cost approximately 130 euro, as opposed to the 100 that it should have cost by strict conversion.

I asked myself why, and from an economic perspective, there should have been no rational reason for this. However, I assumed that it was down to a number of what we might call "unofficial" factors:

1. Unscrupulous traders taking advantage of people's confusion. It wouldn't require every trader in the retail sector to do this for an increase to occur, only a small number of larger operators such as retail chains, for example; if the local plumber, hairdresser or taxi operator suddenly shoved his prices up, it was just as likely that it was because he also has to shop in Tesco or wherever. Thus, an inflationary situation occurs.

2. Genuine uncertainty in the financial markets: when a new currency is being introduced, people always panic, and try to buy into a more stable currency. In the months following the euro's introduction, the US dollar soared in relative value. Later of course it plummeted! While it lasted however, it caused imports to increase substantially.

Even after the introduction of the new currency (which I much prefer as it is far easier to manage) in Romania, which actually just meant lopping four zeros off the amount of lei, there was a slight overall increase in prices. I suspect that after 2012 when Romania joins the euro, prices will increase massively. This is, I believe, because the factors which appeared to push up prices in the west exist in a far more exaggerated form in Romania. We will just have to wait and see, but I suspect that yes, there will be severe increases.

[dracotei]

What I find ironic, speaking of zeros, is that in Romania everyone is a millionare...