The IT industry is one of the main pillars of the Romanian economy. Currently, there are five centers around Romania where almost 90% of the revenues are generated by IT services.
The center formed around the Bucharest-Ilfov region is the most important IT center in Romania. More than half of the total revenues are generated in this center. Following is the center in Cluj county where almost 20% of the revenues are generated. The other three important IT centers in Romania are in Timis and Iasi counties, both with 5% of industry revenues, and the one in Brasov county, where 3% of the revenues are generated.
IT companies with headquarters in Cluj registered more than 63% increase in 2018 in comparison to 2016, and the ones in Iasi grew by 66% in the same time period.
Bucharest-Ilfov region saw only a 16% revenue increase in that timeframe. But the value increase was over RON 1.8 billion, which was higher than the one registered in Cluj county – RON 1.6 billion. The other three developed countries registered as follows: RON 449 million in Iasi, RON 392 million in Timis, and RON 109 million in Brasov.
The IT industry in Romania is dominated by foreign companies
Only one of the top 25 IT companies in Romania by turnover has a majority of Romanian capital. All the other companies are owned by foreign individuals or companies.
Most of the top 25 companies in Romania are US-owned, followed by Dutch, British, French, and German. These 25 companies generate almost 1/3 of the entire industry revenue, and the rest – more than 16,500 companies – generate the other 2/3 of revenue.
Romania: Attractive destination for IT outsourcing
Most people used to associate Romania mainly with Transylvania and the story of Dracula but nowadays this has changed. Romania is becoming more and more popular as an attractive location for IT outsourcing and software development and is being recognized for the IT&C industry. The whole of Eastern Europe is a popular region for IT outsourcing but Romania takes the top place.
An abundance of IT talent
The IT industry can not exist and develop without skilled talent and this is what drives the progress in Romania – an experienced skilled IT workforce.
A lot of people in Romania graduate in computer science but there are also a lot of self-taught professionals who migrate to the IT industry from other fields. It is no wonder since the IT industry is one of the highest paying in Romania.
Even so, more than 60% of IT workers are IT graduates, and 16% have other degrees. There are strong computer science universities, and overall, there are 34 universities in Bucharest, and 10 universities in Cluj-Napoca. More than 50,000 graduate from these universities each year, and a lot of them move towards the IT industry through courses and internships to follow a career in software development or testing.
The most reputable computer science universities are Babes-Bolyai University, Politehnica University of Bucharest, Technical University of Cluj-Napoca, and the University of Bucharest. Many companies offer internships so that most students can start working while they are still in school and already have some working experience by the time they graduate.
