THE EVOLUTION OF THE WORKFORCE IN AGRICULTURE IN ROMANIA

Abstract

The labor force in agriculture, especially in a considerably rural society and economy, as is the case of Romania, constitutes an important subject of study, based on the measurement and analysis of the main indicators. The purpose of the present paper is to analyze the main indicators revealing the employment in agriculture, the evolution of this sector in the last decades and the potential problems created by the decrease of the labor force in agriculture. Data analyzed in this paper are extracted mainly from the European Union Open Data Portal and from the World Bank, covering a long period of time, more precisely 1991-2018. The data refer to the main indicators regarding the employment in agriculture in Romania in absolute figures and as a percent of the total employment, as well as to other variables relevant for the current research. Employment in agriculture is an important indicator for acknowledging the trend of the work force in this sector. The statistical processing of the raw data clearly indicates that the employment in agriculture has decreased constantly and considerably since 1991, both in absolute figures and as a percent of total employment, although Romania remains the country of the European Union with the biggest number of employees involved in agricultural or agriculture-related productive activities. The size of the decrease varies from year to year, yet it clearly indicates a significant decline, requiring a comprehensive investigation and proper measures taken by the responsible official authorities.