Mobility shifts medical staff between states but does not resolve the EU-wide shortage. Romania remains one of the main countries of origin

A study conducted for the European Parliament shows that worker mobility can cover a skills shortage in one country when the same qualification is available in another, but the mechanism works much less effectively in healthcare, where shortages are widespread across numerous countries. The study estimates that 28% of doctors and 24% of nurses trained in Romania work abroad. WHO data show at the same time that the annual departures of Romanian doctors have fallen sharply compared with the beginning of the last decade, making it necessary to distinguish between the stock of professionals already abroad and the current emigration flow.

Free movement of workers redistributes skills within the European Union, but it cannot create medical staff where doctors and nurses are simultaneously lacking in several countries, according to a study published for the European Parliament’s Committee on Employment and Social Affairs. Romania appears among the most important countries of origin for mobile workers and remains a relevant case for healthcare, since a large number of professionals trained in the Romanian system work in other countries.

In brief

The study estimates that Romanian citizens account for approximately one quarter of the EU’s working-age mobile citizens.

For healthcare, the authors cite estimates according to which approximately 28% of doctors and 24% of nurses trained in Romania work abroad.

In 2021, WHO identified more than 22,000 doctors trained in Romania and more than 23,000 Romanian nurses working in other countries.

According to WHO, the annual departures of Romanian doctors fell from approximately 1,500 in 2012 to 461 in 2021.

Mobility can redistribute staff among countries, but for professions facing shortages across almost the entire EU, training, retention and improved working conditions are also necessary.

The study for Parliament treats intra-EU mobility as a mechanism that can connect an occupational surplus in one country with a shortage in the same occupation in another country. The analysis finds that for most professions declared to be in shortage in one part of the Union, there are still regions or countries where the respective skill is available. Healthcare stands out because demand for doctors, nurses and other categories of staff is high across a large part of Europe, meaning that recruitment from another country can fill an employer’s vacancy without increasing the total number of professionals available in the Union.

Romania illustrates the redistributive effect of this mobility. The study estimates that approximately 28% of doctors trained in Romania and 24% of nurses trained in the country work abroad. The percentages describe the stock of professionals trained in Romania who are active in other systems and do not mean that the same proportion leaves every year or that one quarter of the current employees of the Romanian healthcare system leave the country annually.

WHO data offer another way of viewing the scale of the phenomenon. For 2021, the organization identified more than 22,000 doctors trained in Romania working in other OECD countries and more than 23,000 nurses trained in Romania living in other countries. France and Germany were among the important destinations for doctors, while other Western European countries attracted large numbers of nurses.

A large stock of professionals abroad can continue to exist even if new departures decline. WHO shows that the number of doctors emigrating from Romania each year fell from approximately 1,500 in 2012 to 461 in 2021 and links part of this development to wage increases, changes in training conditions and improved working conditions. For this reason, figures concerning Romanian professionals abroad cannot be used alone to describe the current trend in migration.

However, the retention problem remains strongly territorial. A country may have a higher total number of doctors and still face severe shortages in rural areas, small towns, certain specialties or emergency services. In Romania, WHO identifies working conditions, career prospects, workload and the lack of multidisciplinary teams among the barriers that make it more difficult to attract and retain staff in underserved areas.

For destination countries, recruiting staff trained in another country provides a rapid response to vacancies and reduces the time required to train new professionals. For the country of origin, the same transfer may mean that public investment in education and training produces part of its benefit in another healthcare system. The effect is stronger when departures are concentrated in specialties or regions where the number of professionals was already insufficient.

Romania is also relevant to general labour mobility. The study for EMPL places it among the largest sources of working-age mobile citizens in the EU, accounting for approximately one quarter of the mobile population analysed. Free movement gives workers access to different salaries, careers and conditions in other Member States, meaning that the solution to the country of origin’s shortage cannot be to restrict mobility, but to increase the system’s capacity to train, attract and retain staff.

The decline in the working-age population further complicates the same equation at European level. Parliament’s analysis describes a Union in which population ageing, the digital and green transitions, and changing skills demand simultaneously increase the number of occupations facing shortages. Mobility can better match people with available jobs, but it does not offset a structural shortage when the same profession is sought almost everywhere.

For healthcare, the response involves increasing the number of people trained, reducing attrition from the profession, improving working conditions and distributing staff more evenly among regions. WHO also recommends ethical international recruitment policies, so that countries with more resources do not systematically solve their shortages by attracting staff from countries facing shortages of their own.

The data on Romania show that retention can be improved, because the annual flow of departing doctors has fallen substantially compared with 2012, but also that the effects of more than a decade of mobility remain visible in the large number of professionals trained in the country and established in other systems. The study for Parliament treats this situation as a European skills-planning issue, not exclusively as a national loss of staff.

https://2eu.brussels/ro/news/mobilitatea-muta-personalul-medical-intre-state-dar-nu-rezolva-deficitul-ue-romania-ramane-una-dintre-principalele-tari-de-origine