Poor education means high training costs

Companies spend an average €92 per employee for training. On the local market, the total amount paid by companies for outside training amounts to some €30 million, not counting internal training expenses. In order to secure a properly qualified labor force, some 150 companies have founded internal training academies for entry level employees.

President Traian Basescu recently criticized the educational system in a report highlighting its shortcomings. Training company representatives agree with Basescu's report. "Our educational system is highly theoretical, and lacks real life interaction with what really happens in the business environment," according to Human Invest training company's Partner, Viorel Panaite, for Business Standard.

"No company expects a college graduate to actually know what he or she has to do at work," he added.

In the financial services field, training an entry level employee costs some €1,000-1,500 per year. Training courses for brokers cost at least €500 per person.

In the oil and gas industry, company officials say employees are not sufficiently prepared and need further training. Petrom's Communication Manager, Dan Pazara, said the company sent some 3,400 employees to English and computer classes last year.

Companies in other fields agree that training is necessary. Porsche Romania last year invested €2.2 million to train specialists in a special center in Bucharest. Construction materials producer Holcim relies on the company's international center to train its employees.

Marshall Tourism spends some 5 percent of its profits on employee training. In schools "there is too much theory and nothing practical to support this," the company's president, Ion Antonescu, said.

"No company expects a college graduate to actually know what he or she has to do at work Viorel Panaite Partner, Human Invest