However, salaries vary from bank to bank, and recruiters agree that expat managers are paid better than their Romanian counterparts. "There are at least three or four foreign top managers who earn some €50,000 per month in fixed salary alone," according to one of the leading local head-hunters, George Butunoiu. By adding bonuses, option shares and other benefits, incomes can amount to a monthly €100,000. For Romanian managers, the average fixed salary is around €15-20,000, and benefits could double that amount. "However, there are managers who earn no more than €5,000 per month," Butunoiu said.
Managers in charge of developing territorial networks earn the highest salaries, because they are hard to find. In fact, EU integration led to higher competition in the banking sector, as well as to higher wages for managers. In 2007, incomes of top managers rose 50 percent year-on-year, to a level similar to other Central and Eastern European countries. According to the Romanian Banking Institute (IBR), bank presidents earn an average of €20-25,000 per month, while vice presidents' salaries amount to €15,000, on average.
Salaries for middle management positions are considerably lower than in other Central European countries. On average, a department head earns some €2,000 and a branch manager, €2,500, while counterparts in Hungary and the Czech Republic have salaries some €1,000 higher.
Besides better salaries, the banking labor market has to cope with higher personnel instability. The personnel flow rose to some 15 percent this year, from 10 percent in 2006. "The migration of personnel from one bank to another is much higher because authorized banks are expanding nationally, and because of the personnel needs of more than 70 institutions that have entered Romania, according to the President of the Romanian Banking Association, Radu Gratian Ghetea.
The banking system is facing a lack of experienced staff, which has led to a 30 percent increase in salaries in the past year.
