PwC Romania Survey: 65 percent of companies didn’t apply measures to reduce employee costs in the first two months of the state of emergency

Two thirds (65 percent) of the responding companies didn’t have to apply measures to reduce employee costs in the two months of the state of emergency, according to the HR Barometer conducted by PwC Romania in May.

Cost-cutting companies have adopted a mix of measures applied differently depending on employees’ positions, in general targeting operational staff in areas most affected by the state of emergency. Thus, 11 percent have applied furloughs with help from the state budget, but without making up the difference, while 15 percent have used furloughs and covered the salary gap, 17 percent have reduced working time, with the agreement of the parties or granted unpaid leave, and 4 percent have laid off employees.

In terms of wages, the survey shows that half of the respondents applied the salary increases for 2020 before the state of emergency was declared. The average increase was 5.77 percent, in line with forecasts announced in 2019. Almost 30 percent said they won’t increase salaries this year and 15 percent have changed their salary increase policy to only to critical positions. Benefit packages remained the same for 80 percent of respondents. The majority (65 percent) do not intend to change the system of variable payments.

Less than a quarter of the companies surveyed (22 percent) returned to work on 18 May, with almost half not having decided on a return date yet.

In this context, 80 percent intend to combine work from home with office work, even after the end of the state of emergency (15 May), with a majority taking employee opinions into account.

“Before the pandemic, for those who worked in offices, health at work was not a problem, but it will become so from now on. All forecasts show that we can expect waves of quarantine or absenteeism. That is why many companies are rethinking their occupational health and safety policies, by reorganising the space, purchasing protective equipment for employees and implementing work from home where possible. The success of teleworking will be determined by the opportunities that companies create for employees to interact, learn and be part of a community. This lockdown period revealed a digital skills gap, and investments in upskilling will be essential”, said Oana Munteanu, Senior Manager People & Organisation PwC Romania.

Regarding HR activities, 37 percent of respondents said that they won’t change their recruitment and onboarding policies, and 30 percent stated their intention to postpone them until the state of emergency is lifted. Training and development programmes have been postponed by 33 percent of the respondents, with the same percentage having changed processes and tools, especially as part of digitalisation programmes.

PwC Romania’s HR Barometer was conducted between 14 – 18 May 2020 based on the information provided by 46 companies in the sectors: retail / FMCG, pharmaceutical, IT&C, financial services, automotive, agriculture, industry. 17 percent of the responding companies have over 3,000 employees, 22 percent have 1,001 – 3,000 employees, 17 percent between 501 – 1,000 employees, 31 percent 101 – 500 employees and 13 percent up to 100 employees.