Press Review - August 14, 2017

08.14.2017 By Oana Gavrila

Around 200 Anti-Vaxxers Protested in Bucharest

Around 200 people protested Sunday in Bucharest's Victory Square after the government adopted a bill making vaccination for children mandatory.

Protesters said the bill forcing them to vaccinate their children restricts their liberties.

The bill was adopted Wednesday and comes into force on January 1. The bill has been sent to Parliament for approval.

Romania Received Just 710 Refugees Under EU-Imposed Quotas

Romania was supposed to receive by now over 4,000 refugees from Africa and the Middle East under mandatory quotas imposed by the European Union, which the country opposed.

However, only 710 people who had migrated illegally to Italy or Greece have been sent to Romania. Most of them are from Syria, but there are also refugees from Iraq, Eritrea or Yemen.

Under EU decisions of 2015, Romania had a refugee quota of 4,180.

Romania Failed to Complete Even One Highway Section in 2016

The state has failed to complete even one section of highway under construction in 2016, said transport minister Razvan Cuc.

He said 90 new kilometers of highway may be functional in 2017 if no further problems arise.

Interior Minister: 8,400 Employees Eligible for Retirement This Year

Over 8,000 employees of the Interior Ministry are eligible for retirement in 2017 and over 4,000 have retired already, said minister Carmen Dan.

The system has a staff shortage of 20,000 people, the minister said.

In 2016, 12,500 Interior Ministry employees retired and only 5,250 new ones were hired, while in 2017, 4,400 retired so far and 5,350 joined the ranks.

IT Job Offers Triple Compared with Available Candidates

Romanians' talent migration and lack of interest for computer science university majors are a few of the reasons Romania has a talent shortage in the IT sector.

Four to six out of ten jobs offered remain vacant in the IT industry, employers say.

“Talent shortage in the IT industry, deepened by the migration of specialists to western countries, limits the very high potential Romania has in software development services,” said Carmen Buruiana, enterprise HR manager for Bitdefender. The company currently has 1,200 employees and around 90% of newcomers are young students or graduates, aged around 20.

Catalin Bordei, partner & board member at Innobyte, says demand on the labor market in the IT sector is triple compared with the available candidate pool.

Employers say they have trouble finding skilled and experienced employees in the IT sector. Universities spill out nearly 7,000 IT graduates a year but the market demand is at least double.