Romania increasingly relies on migrant workers to address severe labour shortages, but its integration system has not expanded at the same pace.
As the EU’s Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs highlights, three developments in Romania make 2026 decisive: the forthcoming National Immigration Strategy, the annual labour-admission quota, and amendments to legislation governing migrants’ access to employment.
According to the IOM, by September 2025, Romania had 214,126 third-country nationals with valid residence permits. Of these, 136,334 were migrant workers and 33,075 were their family members.
Some 93 percen of third-country residents were of working age, and 75 percent were men. A separate August snapshot counted 210,250 permit holders, a difference apparently explained by the reporting dates.
Demand for foreign labour remains high.
Employers repeatedly advertised 258,803 vacancies between January and September 2025, while the government proposed admitting another 90,000 migrant workers in 2026.
From 2019 to 2025, migrant employment reportedly rose by 321 percent in construction, 258 percent in industry, and 728 percent in services.
Recruitment Outspaced Integration
Yet recruitment has outpaced integration. Recent research identifies complex procedures, weak institutional coordination, language barriers, limited recognition of qualifications, and restrictions on changing employers. These obstacles can leave migrants dependent on employers or intermediaries and prevent Romania from making full use of their skills.
Similar weaknesses affect asylum seekers and beneficiaries of protection.
Although Romania has a functioning asylum system and effective cooperation between authorities and NGOs, gaps remain in interpretation, legal counselling, healthcare, language training, and continuity of services.
The experience of people displaced from Ukraine illustrates both the value and fragility of cross-sector cooperation. Partnerships among authorities, NGOs, and international organisations improved service delivery, but their success depended on clear roles, communication, and stable governance.
As temporary protection approaches its transition phase, many Ukrainians intending to remain in Romania still lack clear information about future residence options. This uncertainty affects housing, employment, education, and healthcare.
Young displaced Ukrainians face additional pressures, including family separation, discrimination, anxiety, and depression. Language barriers, stigma, and information gaps limit their use of formal mental-health services, making peer support and community activities especially important.
Romania must therefore move beyond treating migration primarily as an annual response to employer demand.
