IT remained the field with the highest salaries on the Romanian market in the first half of 2026, despite the contraction in hiring volumes and even layoffs in profile companies. Salaries in the sector averaged RON 8,000, up by 5% compared to last year, according to Salario data, the salary comparator operated by eJobs. The second best-paid sector on the market was oil and gas, with a net average of RON 7,000, followed by research and development, at RON 6,800.
All three sectors were also featured in the ranking of the best-paying fields last year. The following industries were construction/installations (RON 6,500) and engineering, telecommunications, audit/consultancy, and naval/aeronautics, each with RON 6,000 net per month on average. “Even though in most fields we are talking about salary increases compared with last year, in real terms employees’ purchasing power has decreased, including in the sectors where salaries increased the most, because the increases were, in most cases, even half the level of inflation.
In June, the inflation rate was 10.4%,” said Roxana Drăghici, Head of Sales at eJobs, the largest online recruitment platform in Romania. Salario data showed that employees’ expectations exceeded the salaries they received by 30% on average. The largest differences were in IT, where the salary expectations expressed by candidates were 50% higher than those offered by employers.
As such, employees in this sector expected an average of RON 11,993. The insurance sector showed differences of 42%, while the automotive industry, legal and banking sectors showed differences of 40%. By comparison, employees in the oil and gas sector expected an average salary of RON 9,000, compared to the actual salary average, RON 7,000.
In alternative medicine, the difference was only 14%, in sanitary installations 20%, and in customer relations 25%. Data also showed that among the fields with the lowest salaries are the industries that bring the largest number of jobs to the market, namely retail, services, the food industry, and tourism. The average net salaries for these sectors were RON 4,300 for retail, RON 4,500 for the food industry, RON 4,400 for call-center/BPO, RON 5,000 for transport/logistics, and RON 5,500 for services.
The field with the lowest salaries, however, is au pair/babysitting/cleaning, with RON 3,300 per month.
Summary from source