“The average increase was around 30 percent but various companies raised salaries by 40-50 percent,” Enescu told Business Standard. “The problem is that this salary evolution does not reflect in productivity. There is a competence deficit. In theory, there is the marketing school, but the level of training is very low there,” Enescu explained. Thus, market research companies are forced to hire people from any field, from mathematicians to political sciences specialists.
A junior employee in a market research company earns about €300 per month, but this value varies from one company to another. After 3-5 years, he is promoted to Senior Consultant, which involves a €1,000 net salary. Afterwards, there is the Specialist or Manager level. “As manager, managerial skills are more important than technical abilities. Not all managers are market research specialists,” Enescu said.
The Daedalus group includes the Daedalus Consulting (market research), Visionwise (consultancy), and Eurodata (field research) companies. Daedalus Consulting posted €1 million worth of net sales in the first half of 2007, a 24 percent year-on-year increase. The company’s turnover reached some €2 mln in 2006.
Approximately one third of the Visionwise business comes from the local market and the remainder is made up of foreign clients from Central and Eastern Europe, Northern Africa and the Middle East. The market research segment is expected to increase by 20-25 percent in the coming 3-4 years, after rising by 28 percent in 2006 from 2005, up to €25 mln. Studies made by the European Federation of Management Consultancies Associations (FEACO) indicate that revenues of management consultancy companies in Romania totaled €200 mln in 2005, compared to €240 mln in Poland and €251 mln in Hungary.
