Employee Benefits In Transition: Global And National Trends And The Romanian It Sector In A Post-Pandemic, Post-Fiscal-Incentive Labour Market (2023-2026)

Compensation and benefits have become a strategic lever for competitiveness in the European labour market, particularly in knowledge-intensive sectors such as information technology. Building on a previous study of how Romanian IT firms built and consolidated competitive advantage after the Covid-19 pandemic, this paper examines benefits tendencies on three levels: global, national (Romania), and within the Romanian IT industry specifically. The research is anchored in the current reality: Romania’s IT sector is adjusting to the gradual withdrawal of long-standing income-tax exemptions, persistent wage pressure, the normalisation of remote and hybrid work, and a growing emphasis on nonmonetary rewards and employee wellbeing. The study relies exclusively on secondary data, drawing on recurrent labour-market and reward reports published between 2023 and 2026 at global level (by Aon, Korn Ferry, Mercer, Randstad, Pacific Prime), national level in Romania (by Hays, Randstad, PwC, SD Worx), and on the annual IT Salary Map survey (by AIMS) for the Romanian IT sector. Using a qualitative, descriptive approach and emerging tendencies across these sources, the paper maps how the structure of benefits is shifting toward flexible benefits, wellbeing support and work-arrangement flexibility. Findings are intended to help employers, policymakers and HR practitioners understand benefit dynamics in a fragmented European economy, and to position the Romanian IT sector within wider national and global trends in attracting and retaining talent.