Pay, work-life balance and good relationship with the manager matter the most to Romanians when it comes to choosing a job, according to findings of a survey released on Thursday.

The survey, conducted by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), The Network, The Stepstone Group and eJobs.ro, shows that, unlike in Romania, employees globally set the highest value on job stability.

Other aspects they take into account when choosing a job are the relationship with workmates, feeling appreciated for the work they do, professional development opportunities, feeling that their work is meaningful, the reputation of the employer, the number of days of vacation, according to a press statement released by eJobs.ro.

„Interestingly, we do not find in this list the extra-pay benefits, which shows us that Romanians have rethought the relationship to career and work lately. The importance of pay cannot be dethroned, but, beyond this criterion, all that weigh heavily in the eyes of employees are more related to relationships, organisational culture and reputation than to concrete material incentives,” Roxana Draghici, Head of Sales eJobs.ro, an online recruitment platform in Romania, is quoted as saying in the statement.

According to the survey, at the local level there are differences between respondents by age. Thus, pay is the most important only for those who are between 21 and 30 years old and for those in the 41-50 age category.

Thus, for the very young, under the age of 20, the compatibility between the values they have and those of the potential employer matters most. Those in the 31-40 age bracket value primarily the balance between personal and professional life. Starting from the age of 51 onwards, the most important thing is the good relationship with workmates or the appreciation they receive from the manager for the work they do.

„Labour market fluctuations internationally made 2023 the first year in which we see that job security appears so high in respondents’ choices. In previous years, the recognition of merits within the company or the relationship with the team were much more important,” added Draghici.

The study was conducted between October and December 2023 on a sample of 150,000 respondents from 185 countries, including Romania, which provided answers from 1,047 participants.

AGERPRES