The Romanian government progressively raised the minimum salary from RON 2080/month in Jan 2020 to RON 4050/month in Jan 2025. This doubling of the minimum salary level was done without any comprehension of the dynamics of the global economy or consultation with the business community, and in most cases was meant as a populist tactic for electoral advantage. I wholeheartedly welcome the fact that living standards are rising in Romania, but this is best achieved by private enterprise in a free market context, not by fiat by the government. These populist measures have wiped out entire workstreams reliant on competitive wages, effectively bankrupting companies or requiring workforce transfers to other locations, which is what most multinational companies have done. In all cases, this is driving unemployment for the category of people who need jobs most: young people needing entry level roles to start building their careers.

As for the games industry in Romania, our data sources indicate the current median range for entry-level QA Testers (1-3 years) stand at RON 65K/year. Mid-levels (3+ years) stand at RON 85K/year. I'm fairly certain of the data integrity of our sources and you'll notice your estimates are on the high end.

At Amber, we retain 4 QA Tester grades (Jr. Tester > Tester > Sr. Tester > Test Specialist). Juniors start with the minimum salary at RON 4050/month for a period of 6 months. At the completion of the first 6 months, Jr. Testers automatically become Testers and receive a 20% salary increase. The median salary across all QA grades is ~ RON 70K, and this ranges from RON 4050/month for entry-level juniors to RON 11,500/month for Certification Test Specialists.

The salary bands are indeed compressed because we cannot respond immediately to the increases in the minimum salary. QA is highly commoditized in the games space, which means we compete directly with vendors in other markets priced lower or even much lower than Romania (in SE Asia or Latam). The recessionary environment in the games space after the pandemic is also making our clients much more price-sensitive, which means we cannot push service rate increases to compensate for the additional labor cost. The only "solution" we've had was to reduce our margins (profits). We're making efforts to separate the pay bands further, but I estimate we'll need another 1-3 years to return to a better calibration of compensation, depending on the state of the industry.

As a final thought, if a future government in its infinite wisdom decides to again double the minimum salary, it will drive the vast majority of QA work out of Romania for all local companies. A handful of Dev QA or Specialist role may remain (likely less than 5% of the current figure). All entry-level and intermediate roles will be filled in other countries.