The adoption of a quota of 90,000 foreign workers for 2026 represents good news for the entrepreneurial milieu and is in full agreement with the needs of the market, believes Confederation of Labor Importing Employers (PIFM).
The organization's reaction comes following the publication in decisional transparency, by the Ministry of Labor, of a draft decision that provides for, for next year, a number of 90,000 foreign workers newly admitted to the labor market.
"The adoption of this 90,000 quota for 2026 represents good news for the entrepreneurial environment. This measure guarantees that the over 73,000 work permit applications scheduled in the IGI portal by April 30, 2026 have a real chance of being processed and approved. The Executive's decision confirms that the financial resources and thousands of working hours invested by Romanian employers in international recruitment and selection processes were not in vain. It is important to emphasize that IMM Romania and PIFM were the only organizations that, within the National Tripartite Council, consistently supported the need to publish this quota by the end of the year," a PIFM press release states.
According to the cited source, the figures provided by the General Inspectorate for Immigration (IGI) confirm the opportunism of this decision and the scale of economic activity that depends on foreign labor. For the period December 2, 2025 - April 30, 2026, 73,386 applications are already scheduled online at the national level, with a peak of activity between November 15, 2025 and January 15, 2026, during which 31,591 applications were registered.
By December 5, 2025, the annual quota had been used at a rate of 95%, with 93,902 permits for permanent workers already issued, to which hundreds of permits for seconded workers and highly qualified specialists are added.
Romulus Badea, president of PIFM, claims that this decision represents a mechanism to unblock the labor market and a confirmation of the partnership between the authorities and the business environment. Through this measure, the Government supports employers who have major projects underway, including in the PNRR infrastructure, offering them the predictability necessary to honor their contracts and avoid financial losses, the employers' association says.
"We consider that this new contingent is fully in line with the needs of the market and represents a fundamental step in ensuring the continuity of economic projects at the national level," Romulus Badea said in a statement.
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