Metro to hire 600 people in first half

German Metro group, the biggest player in local trade because of its over 2 billion euro sales, is hiring 600 people for the Real Hypermarket and Metro Cash & Carry openings it is preparing for the first half.

The two stores will be opened in the same retail park, located in the Policolor area in Bucharest, and the investments of the group in these projects can be put at more than 40 million euros.

Even though retail remains one of the few sectors still hiring this year, human resources consultants say that the current recruitment campaigns of store chains are nothing like what they were two years ago.

“In 2008, the major retailers opened five or six stores a year and created thousands of jobs, which is no longer happening now,” explains Madalina Popescu, general manager of human resources advisory firm Pluri Consultants.

Retail salaries, however, are among the lowest on the market, as a store assistant in a hypermarket is paid 600-700 RON per month, according to data on the market.

Metro had approximately 13,800-14,000 employees in Romania at the end of 2009, the latest available data reveal.