Nearly 3 million white collar jobs formerly based in United States are outsourced to emerging countries such as Romania. Jobs which are generally outsourced involve financial and administrative, customer service, and technology development. Organizations in developed countries are farming out jobs to countries with equally skilled personnel but with low labor cost. With the global services market being highly dynamic, it is important for an organization to select the best outsourcing destination. Companies have to take into consideration various factors when outsourcing to Romania.
Romania Economy
Romania has a GDP of approximately $325 billion with a per capita income of $15,291 making it an upper middle income country, and also a member of the European Union. This clearly attests that the country is economically stable and investor friendly. Other necessary information when planning to outsource to Romania is that the country’s inflation rate. In 2011 it was marginal at 6.1%, unemployment rate at 7.6%, and exports in 2011 rose by 13%. The main products being software’s, motor vehicles, military equipment, and pharmaceuticals among others.
The country’s road network is estimated at approximately 82,000 km long. The country’s favorable location also forms a major crossroad for European international economic exchange. Romania boasts of a well developed airport infrastructure. There are 17 commercial airports operating with the capacity to accommodate international traffic. Romania’s rail network comprises of 22,298 kilometers of track. This makes it one of the most extensive in Europe.With such infrastructure in place employees find it easy to commute to work whenever outsourcing to Romania your jobs.
Another critical point when thinking to outsource to Romania is technological infrastructure. The country has managed to liberalize its telecommunications industry which has propelled it in the number one slot and sixth globally in terms of the number of certified IT specialists. The country has more than 65,000 IT related specialists with more than 5,000 IT related engineers graduating from Romania institutions annually.
Romania is a Programming Leader
Currently the country controls approximately 5% of the global offshore programming market. This is attributed to government support because special zones ICT parks with tax holidays have been established. These special zones have in return attracted global ICT players such as Microsoft, Nokia, Oracle, Sun Microsystems, Motorola, and Intel among others. These companies have also responded by intensifying their software development activities in Romania and opened up Research and Development (R&D) facilities in the country.
Romania has a well developed education system with schooling being compulsory until the tenth grade. Adult literacy rate is 97% and the combined enrollment ratio in primary, secondary and tertiary level of education is estimated at 75%. The country is also home to one of the finest universities, Bucharest University and Spiru Haret University.
Other factors to be considered when outsourcing to Romania is the country has a population of approximately 22 million people. Majority of the citizens are Christians, and English is taught in schools. There are approximately 5 million Romanians fluent in English Language.
