Fierce competition over top managers on real estate market

The current real estate boom has embroiled firms operating on the market into a competition to recruit individuals for high-level management positions. At least 10 top managers have changed positions in the past six months. According to human resources specialists, salaries for top management positions are often exceeding a monthly level of 10,000 euros.
Polimeni, a U.S. company specialising in the development of shopping centres and housing complexes, which arrived on the domestic market several months ago, recruited its national manager from the Austrian real estate investment fund Europolis. The newly appointed manager, Stefan Gheorghiu, says he left Europolis because he did not want to miss out on the opportunity of heading operations at a major real estate developer that specialises in shopping centres and residential complexes. Gheorghiu’s situation is not unique, however. Early this year, Raiffeisen Evolution, the real estate development unit of the Austrian Raiffeisen group, recruited both Ionel Giuglea, the former general manager with Alpine builder, and Monica Barcutian, the former chief financial officer with Strabag group’s domestic infrastructure and constructions unit, in order to encourage domestic investments.
Other examples include Andrei Panculescu, who has, since October, held the position of acquisitions and commercial manager with Westhill Investments, which operates investments above 100m euros. In February, Ovidiu Marian, a former chairman of the National Tourism Authority and CEO of the Howard Johnson Hotel Bucharest, became the CEO of Baneasa, so far the biggest real estate project launched on the domestic market.
What persuades a top manager to drop his or her current job and move to another company? George Butunoiu, one of the best-known headhunters working in the business, says he has recruited 4 general managers in major real estate development, real estate firms or financial institutions dealing with real estate development, over the past 6 months. A headhunter’s job is not quite as easy as it seems: “The real estate market is more dynamic than the other markets for the simple reason that gains are derived quickly and at a high level; on the spot in many cases,” states Butunoiu. However, he maintains that it is unusual to see major moves at the CEO level, as most companies are grounded in an entrepreneurial or semi-entrepreneurial business structure.
At present, the real estate market is booming. The first consequence of this? The hunt for managers is continuing to gain momentum. Therefore, salaries for top management positions in real estate are several times higher than the monthly level of 10,000 euros. There are quite frequent management changes due to the real estate boom and particularly to the fact that the real estate market has very few professionals and specialists.

Managers “on the move”

Stefan Gheorghiu left Europolis for Polimeni, which specialises in the development of shopping centres and housing complexes
Raiffeisen Evolution recruited Ionel Giuglea, a former general manager with Alpine builder, and Monica Barcutian, a former chief financial officer with Strabag’s domestic infrastructure and constructions unit
Since October, Andrei Panculescu has held the position of acquisition and commercial manager with Westhill Investments