BW: Romanian FM says 100,000 public jobs to go (http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9D7GG7G2.htm)
QuoteRomania's finance minister said Thursday that 100,000 jobs in the public sector will be cut as recession-mired Romania makes budget cuts to meet the requirements of its bailout loan from the International Monetary Fund.
Sebastian Vladescu made the announcement as Parliament debates for a fourth day this year's budget, which is crucial for unlocking a euro1.5 billion (US$2.18 billion) installment of an IMF loan. He declined to say where the cuts would be made.
After years of growth, Romania's economy went into a decline last year, shrinking eight percent. The country ran into financial trouble and was forced to seek outside help, and the IMF, the EU and World Bank put together a euro20 billion package.
But the loan was frozen in October after the government was dismissed by Parliament in a no-confidence vote, leading to a period of instability which was resolved after President Traian Basescu was re-elected in December.
Analysts say that the figure does not mean 100,000 people will lose their jobs. Vacant jobs will not be filled and people near retirement age will not be replaced.
I predict riots.
If only we would do the same :(
I would have kicked out at least 200,000 people from their cushy government jobs. <_<
How is the general mood and ambience in Romania nowadays?
Brits better start boarding up their windows
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on January 16, 2010, 05:28:33 AM
How is the general mood and ambience in Romania nowadays?
We had the biggest growth in the EU then the biggest decline. What do you think? :wacko:
But we're still sending trains full of gipsies abroad... :bowler:
Has it reached the stage where people look back on the good old days under Ceaucescu?
Clearly the recession is a bit of a dampener, though here in the UK very few people I know really care about it very much; the media go on about it but it isn't much mentioned in casual conversation.
Quote from: jimmy olsen on January 16, 2010, 05:06:23 AM
I predict riots.
Because they're not advertising for sub-sub-sun-secretaritate whatever in the Ministry of Health?
Something similar's coming up in Belgium. Apparently they could - though they might not choose to - be able to slash public spending soon because around 50% of civil servants are over the age of 50 and approaching retirement in the next 10 years or so. If they didn't replace them all it's a big saving :)
Quote from: Richard Hakluyt on January 16, 2010, 06:06:37 AM
Clearly the recession is a bit of a dampener, though here in the UK very few people I know really care about it very much; the media go on about it but it isn't much mentioned in casual conversation.
I think it depends where you are in life. Among my friends and other people I know who've just graduated it's a big topic of conversation - but more in a 'sod's law' way. Plus we're all convinced that we'll be a tough sharp-elbowed generation now :)
Yeah, the state of the economy is a big deal for recent entrants to the job market. It varies from "sod off!" all the way to "let us throw money at you!" :D
One advantage of graduating in a recession is that it makes a slightly odd CV more permissible. So bumming around the world or working in a bar for a spell before settling to the careerist grind is easier.
Once the recession really starts to bite I'm expecting some good popular music to come out of it :cool:
That sounds like they'll cut them over the next few years.
Germany cut more than 2.3 million public sector jobs in the last 20 years. Of course it's got four times the population, but unless Romania cuts them immediately, 100,000 jobs cut does not seem outrageously much. That said, I don't know anything about the public sector in Romania, so maybe 100,000 is a substantial portion of the total...?
Quote from: Zanza on January 16, 2010, 06:29:36 AM
That said, I don't know anything about the public sector in Romania, so maybe 100,000 is a substantial portion of the total...?
Considering its a post-communist state in East Europe, my educated guess that it is not.
I can't help but envy Romania for having the balls to do this. State employees are like the state's cancer here, eating away a mind-blowing amount of resources, working with such a horrible inefficiency that puts any Balkan nations into shame.
Like, the mass transportation company of Budapest. The bus drivers are on strike because they are not getting earlier promised benefits which are unheard of to anyone at or somewhat above their job level in the public sector (they still get their payraise, mind you, and normalf benefits). The company itself produces almost as much losses every year as the railroads, and the buses in particular are literally falling apart (such a shame, considering that it was our industry to support the eastern bloc with buses).
Funny thing is, that the outer districts of the city have leased bus-running to a private company. And not only they are not on strike, the buses are in top quality because the contract forces the owner to have them at such, or pay fines, and as in any case where there is someone's money at stake (and not the bottomless pit of the state budget), order is kept.
Quote from: Sheilbh on January 16, 2010, 06:07:03 AM
Quote from: jimmy olsen on January 16, 2010, 05:06:23 AM
I predict riots.
Because they're not advertising for sub-sub-sun-secretaritate whatever in the Ministry of Health?
Something similar's coming up in Belgium. Apparently they could - though they might not choose to - be able to slash public spending soon because around 50% of civil servants are over the age of 50 and approaching retirement in the next 10 years or so. If they didn't replace them all it's a big saving :)
lol, it's belgium. Do you think there will be any savings here?
With the walloons having their hands in the moneybags nothing will change until the country is bankrupt, and even then I'm not sure things will change.
Well, let's bring some numbers...
Until 1989, we had 900,000 people involved in administration. That is without computers, with a big standing army of about 500,000 soldiers, with all the economy in the hands of the state.
We have now 1,400,000 bureaucrats. The big problem is that the power of the state has really diminished since Ceausescu, therefore logic would imply that we need less public servants. My biggest outrage is that in the 2006-2008 period, there were employed 200,000 new people, just because:
a) economic growth
b) necessity of placing political friends in all kinds of useless positions
c) state jobs are still seen by a lot of people as the best and safest way to live your mature years.
One annoyance is that the private sector is simply uninteresting for our mass-media. In 2009, a lot of people lost their jobs and few observed it. But when a certain syndicate begins to argue against any reform in the public sector, journalists simply are ecstatic: there is a chance to talk about the "poor" people. Some of these poor people are the judges who, after losing some stupid monetary monthly bonus, began to strike, even though it was simply unconstitutional.
As I said, I want to see 200,000 bureaucrats losing their jobs in the next 2 years.
Quote from: Tamas on January 16, 2010, 06:50:46 AM
State employees are like the state's cancer
:ultra:
Poland is so increasingly and boringly petit bourgeois these days, it's painful. The only people really hit by the global crisis was a bunch of idiots (both individuals and corporations) who invested heavily in FX futures and could not hedge it when zloty plunged; but it's climbing back so the situation is pretty much back to normal. We are still experiencing economic growth and people think the best idea is deregulation and lowering taxes. Noone wants to vote for the socialists, who support gay marriage. <_<
Quote from: Martinus on January 16, 2010, 03:19:50 PM
Poland is so increasingly and boringly petit bourgeois these days, it's painful. The only people really hit by the global crisis was a bunch of idiots (both individuals and corporations) who invested heavily in FX futures and could not hedge it when zloty plunged; but it's climbing back so the situation is pretty much back to normal. We are still experiencing economic growth and people think the best idea is deregulation and lowering taxes. Noone wants to vote for the socialists, who support gay marriage. <_<
Are you not having issues due to all those Poles who left Britain when the crisis hit?
Quote from: Tyr on January 16, 2010, 03:27:06 PM
Quote from: Martinus on January 16, 2010, 03:19:50 PM
Poland is so increasingly and boringly petit bourgeois these days, it's painful. The only people really hit by the global crisis was a bunch of idiots (both individuals and corporations) who invested heavily in FX futures and could not hedge it when zloty plunged; but it's climbing back so the situation is pretty much back to normal. We are still experiencing economic growth and people think the best idea is deregulation and lowering taxes. Noone wants to vote for the socialists, who support gay marriage. <_<
Are you not having issues due to all those Poles who left Britain when the crisis hit?
Not really. We are used to having unemployed around 10% so it's not a big deal, socially. Plus the market is picking up again after the initial slump. The general consensus is that the world crisis has so far pretty much left Poland alone (and we did some freeriding on the German bailout money since a lot of it ended up in Poland :P).
Quote from: Martinus on January 16, 2010, 03:31:21 PM(and we did some freeriding on the German bailout money since a lot of it ended up in Poland :P).
How? Except for some minor amounts of money of the car scrappage scheme I can't think of any measure that would directly benefit Poland... :huh: And the car scrappage scheme was not really a "bailout", but rather an extraordinary subsidy.
Quote from: Martinus on January 16, 2010, 03:19:50 PM
Poland is so increasingly and boringly petit bourgeois these days, it's painful. The only people really hit by the global crisis was a bunch of idiots (both individuals and corporations) who invested heavily in FX futures and could not hedge it when zloty plunged; but it's climbing back so the situation is pretty much back to normal. We are still experiencing economic growth and people think the best idea is deregulation and lowering taxes. Noone wants to vote for the socialists, who support gay marriage. <_<
Maybe the Russians can come back.
Quote from: Zanza on January 16, 2010, 04:25:04 PM
Quote from: Martinus on January 16, 2010, 03:31:21 PM(and we did some freeriding on the German bailout money since a lot of it ended up in Poland :P).
How? Except for some minor amounts of money of the car scrappage scheme I can't think of any measure that would directly benefit Poland... :huh: And the car scrappage scheme was not really a "bailout", but rather an extraordinary subsidy.
Maybe I was too facetious but our economies are very closely intertwined and money flows from Germany to Poland as both investment and commerce. Since Polish government did not use any "quantitative easement" measures, and your government did a lot of it, then a lot of that money trickled down here.
To maintain the theme of this thread...
The loser of the last presidential elections says that he lost because of magic...
QuoteGeoana: Basescu uses esoteric experts at Cotroceni, I saw them during the debate and in consultations
Mircea Geoana (the candidate) is still haunted by his election defeat and joined Viorel Hrebenciuc (his biggest ally) in allegations that Traian Basescu (winner) used esotericism experts to win another term in office. Moreover, Geoana said that he himself saw these experts in action during his confrontation with Basescu and then again at Cotroceni Palace, during the president's consultations with parties.
"During the debate, I saw people working with Basescu in this field, they were sitting on the right side of the camera and doing their thing. What they were doing, I don't know, but I saw them again at Cotroceni Palace during talks with parties. The same citizen sitting quietly in a corner, in the president's house. That must mean something", Geoana said.
"Mr. Basescu believes in these things because he uses them. It's one thing to use them in the campaign, it's his business what he uses them for, but it's a different thing when the presidential administration uses them so let me ask the people who are handling the president's protection and the national security system's integrity what these sorts of people are doing next to the president when he does his work as head of state, not as a candidate," the socialist leader added.
Geoana's comments come a few weeks after his campaign chief, Viorel Hrebenciuc, declared himself an esotericism adept and said Basescu was helped in his campaign by the "Violet Flame."
Recently, general Emil Strainu, a doctor in unconventional matters, said Basescu was helped in the televised debate against Geoana by groups of metaphysics specialists. Based on the esoteric model of the "Witches' Star," the groups were arranged in the shape of a pentagram, around the Palace of Parliament, where the debate was held.
Strainu said several specialists in the occult were hired on the campaign staffs of most important presidential runners. "From the information I have, during the last confrontation between Basescu and Geoana, one of the pentagram had its top corner in Cismigiu Park, it was made of 20 people, two other corners were in Izvor Park and at the monument on 13 Septembrie Boulevard and the last two corners were next to Level club and Puisor Post Office. The best in parapsychology won," Strainu said.
Metaphysics specialists are described by general Strainu as some sort of contemporary wizards who can influence the intellectual capacities or health of people chosen as targets.
His wife is on his side
Quote"I think he was very much energetically attacked, there were people in the room, who were working on this. He was not attacked all the time, only on certain moments, which were probably decisive attacks. I felt it a lot, I did not have energy, I could not do anything, I could not concentrate, I was not myself." said Mihaela Geoana.
This is the opinion of the socialist leader's wife, disappointed by the result of the elections, which she still considers an electoral fraud. Invited at Antena 3, at the news journal, Mihaela Geoana, showed concerned that, after such experiences, people can get used to the idea that anything can be stolen in Romania.
Here we take our magic spells seriously... :menace:
I used autoeroticism to get through the latest Social Dem government.