Employers are calling for the minimum wage to be frozen in 2026 at the current level. “Purchasing power of employees has increased in real terms”
Money in the wallet, Photo: Rochu2008 | Dreamstime.com
IMM Romania, a nationally representative employers' confederation, are asking the government to maintain the minimum gross salary at the current level, of 4,050 lei, and during the next year, warning that an increase risks leading to layoffs, market distortions by increasing untaxed work and reducing investments.
“The increase in the minimum gross salary for the country, by the Government, in conjunction with the increase in taxation and without proposing a package of economic support measures for SMEs, will lead to the transfer of all additional costs to entrepreneurs, a fact that will determine the increase in the price of products and services of Romanian enterprises, which will result in the loss of competitiveness”, the representatives of IMM Romania said on Wednesday.
“Regarding the economic conditions and the budget crisis affecting the business environment, companies need support measures at this moment and not the increase in costs”, they also say, according to Agerpres.
The increase in labor costs at a time when we have a general increase in fees and taxes for the business environment inevitably leads to a decrease in the competitiveness of Romanian companies, the representatives of the employers' confederation also state.
According to them, the increase in the number of insolvencies and the decrease in consumption show the setback of the Romanian economy, a fact that creates additional pressure on SMEs.
“In the last 3 years, the gross minimum wage has constantly increased above the inflation rate, as it follows from the INS data, the purchasing power of employees increasing in real terms. A new increase in the gross minimum wage per country, in the current economic context, characterized by economic and fiscal instability, leads to layoffs, market distortion through unfair competition by untaxed work and reducing investments”, warn the representatives of IMM Romania.
In their opinion, a way to increase salary incomes, without an unsustainable increase in costs for employers, can be achieved by lowering taxation on the labor force, thus increasing incomes for employees.
Money in the wallet, Illustrative photo: Rochu2008 | Dreamstime.com
