Employee Sentiment Romania 2026: pay rises halved, 1 in 3 plan to leave
Last updated: 2026-08-24 · ~7 min read · Citește în română
MKOR’s annual Employee Sentiment study documents three consecutive years of decline in how Romanian employees perceive their workplace, across all eight indicators tracked between 2023 and 2025. Below we present the published figures exactly as reported, laid out so you can read the state of the Romanian workforce by scrolling.
Three years of decline, in six numbers
The eight indicators tracked are: salary package, benefits package, job security, work flexibility, professional development, workload, team size (number of colleagues) and team morale.
Pay rises have halved in two years
Workload: the one indicator that stays high
Sustained pressure that compounds. Meanwhile, those reporting smaller teams rose from 27% (2023) to 31% (2025), while just 16% report team growth — the lowest tracked level. The equation: more tasks, fewer people, less room to grow.
Security, flexibility and team size
Team morale: the steepest decline in three years
This decline does not appear in a vacuum. It builds on layers from previous years: pay packages perceived as insufficient, rising workload, shrinking teams and narrowing development opportunities. Low team morale is not just an internal climate indicator — it is also a leading predictor of intent to leave.
1 in 3 employees are ready to leave
Top reasons for leaving
Who are the high-risk employees?
Their perception: the salary package has decreased compared to 2024. For this segment, stability and growth prospects matter more than for the average respondent.
The lowest salaries, the greatest ambition
Workload increased for 54% of them, while team morale declined in the perception of 47% — suggesting young employees are not leaving a comfortable environment, but a stagnant one. Against a backdrop of apparent stability (55% report no change in salary package, 65% no change in benefits), career advancement has become the primary driver behind the desire to change employers.
What motivates a job change, by generation
Income growth remains the top motivation across all age groups: 75% for Gen Z and 78% as the general average.
Who stays, and why
Retention is not always built on spectacular benefits or large salary jumps. More often, it is built by maintaining an environment that feels predictable, or by keeping teams intact.
Four directions for HR strategy in 2026
Rethink your value proposition
Not through massive investment, but through honesty about what the organisation actually offers: pay, benefits, security, growth path. High-risk employees are not asking for more. They want to understand what concrete benefits exist and where their career is heading.
Communicate explicitly what professional growth looks like
Not in vague terms, but with criteria and concrete examples. This can be the difference between an employee who stays and one who starts looking elsewhere.
Fix morale through managers, not team-building events
The indicator with the sharpest 2025 decline gets repaired by managers who give solution-oriented feedback, who recognise individual contributions, and who handle change transparently.
Run regular pulse surveys
Organisations that do not monitor internal climate work on assumptions. Periodic measurement gives you early signals before intent to leave becomes the decision to leave.
About the study
Sample size: 1,000 respondents, nationally representative by gender, age and geographic distribution. Target: Romania general population, ages 18-55. Research method: opinion poll (CAWI), questionnaire instrument, collected online via the MKOR Consumer Panel, following a methodology aligned with ESOMAR standards.
Questions employers ask about this data
What is Employee Sentiment Romania 2026?
It is MKOR's annual study of how Romanian employees perceive their workplace, tracking eight indicators between 2023 and 2025: salary package, benefits package, job security, work flexibility, professional development, workload, team size and team morale. The 2026 edition is based on 1,000 respondents, nationally representative by gender, age and geographic distribution, aged 18-55, collected online (CAWI) through the MKOR Consumer Panel following ESOMAR standards.
How many Romanian employees received a pay rise?
In 2023, 40% of Romanian employees reported a salary increase. By 2025 that had halved to 20%. Over the same period the share saying their salary went down rose from 16% to 21%.
How many employees plan to change jobs?
In 2023, 23% of employees said they were likely or very likely to leave within six months. By 2025 that figure is 29% — roughly 1 in 3 Romanian employees. The average probability score on a 0-10 scale rose from 3.3 in 2023 to 3.9 in 2025.
What does the data say about Gen Z?
42% of Gen Z employees (18-28) intend to change jobs in the next six months, versus 30% nationally. Their average likelihood score is 5.1 out of 10 against a national average of 3.96, and 20% gave the maximum score of 10. Gen Z earns approximately 3,700 RON on average versus 5,200 RON nationally, and 58% earn below 4,000 RON.
What are the top reasons employees leave?
78% cite a higher salary, 33% better non-salary benefits and 32% a more secure job.
Source: MKOR, Employee Sentiment Romania 2026. Figures are reproduced as published; read the original research.
MERAKI HR is not affiliated with MKOR; the data is cited for informational purposes. (MERAKI HR nu este afiliat cu MKOR; datele sunt citate în scop informativ.)