The Impact of the Economic Crisis on Civil Employment in the South-West Oltenia Region of Romania

This paper investigates the impact of the economic crisis on civil employment at the regional level in Romania, especially in the South-Western region of Oltenia. The aim of this study is to test whether the decreasing number of the employed population in the south-western Oltenia region is mainly due to the economic crisis or other factors. The proposed theory is that the decline of civil employment is the consequence of several specific factors (culture, habits, traditions, the dominant religion, applied restructuring policies), as well as political decisions at the central and regional level. The results confirm our theory. In its first part, this paper focuses on the comparative analysis of particularities regarding the evolution of the average number of employees, across macro-regions and development regions of Romania, with emphasis on the years 2008 and 2013 (i.e. before and after the outbreak of the economic crisis). The second part of the paper highlights important changes specific to each economic branch (in terms of civil employment) across South-West Oltenia region in the period under review.