In brief
- The Ministry of Labour has approved Romania’s List of Shortage Occupations: 289 occupations, from sales agent to painter, for which employers can more easily recruit foreign workers.
- The list is required by Government Emergency Ordinance No. 32/2026 on foreign nationals’ access to Romania’s labour market and effectively replaces the previous benchmark used by employers and by the authorities issuing work permits.
- It primarily concerns employers in construction, hospitality, industry, agriculture and care services, the sectors with the most occupations on the list.
Published: Official Gazette of Romania (Monitorul Oficial) No. 649 of 6 August 2026
In force from: 6 August 2026
The Ministry of Labour, Family, Youth and Social Solidarity has published Romania’s List of Shortage Occupations on the labour market, listing 289 occupations, from sales agent and kitchen assistant to painter. Order No. 1.073/2026, published in the Official Gazette of Romania No. 649 of 6 August 2026, approves the list required by Article 1(2) of Government Emergency Ordinance No. 32/2026 on foreign nationals’ access to Romania’s labour market, a list essential to how employers can recruit workers from outside the European Union for posts that are hard to fill with local staff.
The list was drawn up by the ministry’s General Directorate for labour, employment and vocational training policies and programmes, based on the methodology previously approved by Order No. 987/2026. Each occupation is identified both by name and by its code from the Romanian Classification of Occupations (COR), to avoid ambiguity when the list is applied by the authorities issuing work permits and clearances for foreign nationals.
What it changes in practice
For employers in sectors facing staff shortages, such as construction, hospitality, food industry, garment manufacturing, agriculture or care services, the list provides an official basis to request authorisation to hire foreign workers for the listed posts, under the conditions set out in GEO No. 32/2026. Occupations such as carpenter, bricklayer, welder, cook, hotel chambermaid, home carer for the elderly or road freight driver appear explicitly on the list, alongside less publicly visible trades such as gut processor, weigher or assistant spinning foreman.
For foreign workers seeking employment in Romania, an occupation’s presence on this list can simplify the procedure for obtaining a work permit, since the authorities officially acknowledge the staff shortage in that occupation. However, the list does not create automatic rights; it remains an administrative tool used within the procedures already regulated by GEO No. 32/2026, which the employer must still follow separately.
What has changed compared with the previous situation
- New, updated list: the order approves a new list of 289 shortage occupations, replacing the previous benchmarks used in procedures for hiring foreign nationals.
- COR code attached to each occupation: every entry on the list carries the official code from the Romanian Classification of Occupations, reducing ambiguity when applying it.
- Explicit legal basis: the list is issued directly under Article 1(2) of GEO No. 32/2026, aligning administrative practice with the new legal framework on foreign nationals’ access to the labour market.
Advantages and disadvantages
What it improves
- It gives employers in sectors with acute staff shortages (construction, hospitality, care, agriculture) an official and transparent basis for recruiting foreign workers.
- The COR codes attached to each occupation reduce the risk of misinterpretation or rejection of applications due to ambiguous classification.
- A public, updatable list provides predictability for both employers and foreign candidates assessing their chances of working legally in Romania.
What remains a problem
- The order does not explain the exact methodology by which an occupation was included or excluded from the list, even though this was separately approved by Order No. 987/2026.
- Employers in sectors with genuine shortages, but with very specific or new occupations not on the list, remain subject to the standard procedure, without the facilities linked to the list.
- The list does not state its period of validity or the timetable for the next update, leaving employers without a clear point of reference for revisions.
Practical advice
- If you are an employer looking to recruit foreign staff for a post that is hard to fill, first check whether that occupation appears on the list, using both its name and COR code, to avoid having your application rejected for classification reasons.
- If your occupation is not on the list, but you believe it should be, follow the update methodology approved by Order No. 987/2026 and the channels through which employers can flag staff shortages.
- Keep a record of the COR code corresponding to each hard-to-fill vacancy, useful both for recruiting foreign workers and for internal statistical reporting.
- Do not confuse inclusion on the list with automatic approval of a work permit: the procedure remains the one set out in GEO No. 32/2026, and the list is only one of the criteria used by the authorities.
Frequently asked questions
What is the List of Shortage Occupations?
How many occupations does the list contain?
Who can use this list?
Does inclusion on the list guarantee a work permit for a foreign worker?
How is the list updated?
Original text of the legal act
The text below is reproduced in Romanian, the official form of publication.
The full text, as published in the Official Gazette of Romania
Official Gazette of Romania no. 649 of 6 August 2026 16 pages PDF, 131 KB the act starts on page 6
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This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For specific situations, consult a licensed attorney or tax advisor.