AMCOR
Romania

Key data on the Management Consulting industry
Turnover:     2,400 Mln.lei  in 2017    
2,500 Mln. lei in 2018    (+4.2%)
Forecast:
2,800Mln.lei in 2019    (+12%)

Employment: 15.000 employees in 2018    
80% professionals    20% staff

Turnover/professional: 48,500€ per year (avg. 2017-19)

In Romania, according to EU Economic Forecast Summer 2019, “following an annual growth of 4.1% in 2018, real GDP growth accelerated in the first quarter of 2019 to 5.1% year-on-year (1.3% quarter-on-quarter). Private consumption remained the main driver, increasing 7.0% year-on-year thanks to still double-digit wage growth. Investment picked up, thanks mainly to a recovery in construction, spurred by recent fiscal stimulus. Export growth, by contrast, weakened to 3.2% year-on-year, while import growth climbed to 9.3%. The strong growth of real GDP in the first quarter led to an upward revision of growth for the whole year. Annual real GDP growth is forecast to mildly ease to 4% in 2019 and 3.7% in 2020. However, the composition of growth is expected to become somewhat more balanced as total investment strengthens with a pick-up in private investment. Tight labour market conditions are expected to continue over the forecast horizon, with unemployment remaining close to its current, very low level. Wage growth is forecast to moderate to single digits in 2020, led by the expected slowdown in public wage growth. In 2018, inflation stood at 4.1%, the highest in the EU. Annual consumer price growth remained strong in the first quarter of 2019, at 3.8%, and is expected to exceed 4% in the second quarter, before decelerating again. Rising unprocessed and processed food prices explain the strong upward price dynamics boosted by a depreciation of the currency at the beginning of the year and strong consumption and wage growth. As a result, annual headline inflation is expected to average 4.2% in 2019, before decelerating to 3.7% in 2020. The deceleration in 2020 is expected to follow moderating wage pressures and softer domestic demand”.

In 2018 the MC market in Romania is estimated around 2,500 million lei, equal to almost 527 million Euro. 

There are around 1,500 Romanian companies that focus on management consulting, even if in the country over 39,000 firms registered under the statistical code of “Management Consulting”. In fact many of these 39,000 companies are either not active or are offering consulting services to a very limited extent.  The MC industry has an overall employment of 15,000 employees. 

The last few years have been difficult for management consultants due to economic contraction, decline in investment and economic and legislative instability.Howeverin 2019 the MC market is growing to a relevant extent (+12%) and management consultants have positive hopes for 2020. This is also reflected in the expectation of a further increase in the average daily fees of a professional consultant.

The European Funds continue to be a serious business driver for many consulting firms and the growth expected for 2019 and 2020 is based to a relevant extent on the availability of EU funding: there have been and there are many open calls in EU funded projects during this period on programmes like POCU (Human Capital Operational Program), PNDR (National Rural Development Program), POAT (The Technical Assistance Operational Program), POIM (Great Infrastructure Operational Program). Management consultants are engaged both in the preparation of the proposals and in the implementation of the EU-funded projects.

The client industries reflect the economic structure of the Country: consulting towards Agriculture represents 20% of the MC turnover, consulting towards Industry 40%, and consulting towards Services 40%.

International projects represent roughly 40% of the overall MC market and in the past three years their percentage over the total MC turnover has remained rather stable. The average fees are much lower in Romania than in Western Europe. In the Bucharest area the average daily fee for a junior consultant is around 200-250€, for a senior consultant or a project manager is around 550-600€, and for a partner/director around 800-900 €.

This country profile has been prepared by AMCOR, the national association of management consulting companies.

The following trend information was obtained from compiling 105 responses to the AMCOR’s Annual Market Research questionnaire.60 of the respondents are AMCOR members. These 60 companies range from very small ones (1-5 employees) to medium-large ones (100 employees).

AMCOR, as the reference professional association, is trying through its actions to improve the market, by stressing out problems and proposing solutions. In order to “educate” the market, AMCOR has a very good communication with the local authorities, organizes professional events (conferences, meetings, debates), and has developed a National Accreditation procedure for consulting firms plus an International Certification procedure for management consultants.AMCOR has developed a Code of Ethics subscribed by its members and it organizes a national contest for companies that are working on international projects.