In Romania’s competitive job market, employee health benefits have evolved from a nice-to-have perk to a decisive factor in hiring and retention, according to Mihai Marinescu, Head of Employee Benefits at International Broking Center – Romania Hub, RENOMIA Gallagher.
“Health benefits are very important. How much do they really weigh in a candidate’s or employee’s decision to stay and develop within a team?” Marinescu posed during Work Compass HR Conference organized by The Diplomat-Bucharest.
He explained that while the answer may seem simple, the reality is more complex. “If we look at the evolution of recent years, the area of medical benefits for employees has seen constant development and clearly growing importance.”
Marinescu highlighted real-world examples where large Romanian companies needed to hire hundreds of qualified workers in a short period of time. In such cases, even higher salaries were not always enough to attract talent from competitors.
“Companies trying to recruit from other firms were sometimes surprised to discover that the salary they offered – even when higher than the current one – was outweighed strictly by the medical benefits provided by the existing employer,” he said.
To succeed, these companies had to replicate the medical packages offered by their competitors.
“In fact, today, medical benefits for employees are not only important – I would say they are decisive in an employee’s decision whether to stay with a company or make a job change.”
This urgency is amplified by Romania’s health challenges.
“We are at a point where Romania, unfortunately, ranks first in the incidence of cardiovascular and oncological diseases,” Marinescu noted.
Packages must therefore be tailored through discussions with HR and through collaborations with insurance partners that provide medical benefits. The goal is to ensure they reflect both the company’s priorities and the real needs of its employees. In this way, the package is built around the organization and, most importantly, the people who work in it.
Prevention remains essential, yet underutilized at a national level.
“Access to prevention through the public healthcare system (CAS) is only around 2%. Through the medical services we facilitate, prevention can reach 5–7% in certain situations,” he said.
Comprehensive coverage – from consultations and diagnostics to surgery – plays an important role in encouraging employees to actually use these services. RENOMIA Gallagher analyzes data to design benefit packages that fit approximately 80–90% of a company’s workforce.
Implementation is equally important.
“We also organize onsite/online sessions within companies to explain to employees what benefits they have and how they can access them. This helps ensure everything is clear from the beginning and avoids unpleasant situations later,” Marinescu added.
The choice of medical provider ultimately remains with the company, based on the insights and analysis provided by RENOMIA Gallagher, ensuring that the selected package covers most of the medical service needs within the organization.