Why non-EU workers are preferred

Cojocariu Eugen, 01.04.2026, 09:49

Romania’s Labour Minister, Florin Manole, has recently said he supported lowering the quota for workers from outside the European Union to make room for local workers, adding that some companies prefer foreigners because they are ”low-paid, vulnerable, and easily dispensable labour”. The minister has said that at the end of last year, employers asked him to increase the quota for non-EU workers from 100,000 in 2025 to 150,000 in 2026, but he supported a cut to 75,000, against the backdrop of rising unemployment. The official has said that, in the end, a quota of 90,000 foreign workers was approved by consensus.

I do not believe that this should be the goal of a country in relation to its own labour market, Minister Florin Manole has added. He has said he is aware of the equal rights that those who come to work in our country should benefit from and the respect they deserve, but has added that he prefers to leave as much space as possible for the Romanian citizen who pays his salary and votes for him to represent him from this point of view. I have no hint of nationalism, extremism, I have absolutely nothing to reproach any worker, regardless of whether they are from Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe or anywhere else, as long as they work correctly, honestly, pay taxes in this country, the Romanian official has added.