This document describes an empirical research study on entrepreneurial opportunities and new occupations in the current labor market. The research was conducted in Romania in 2011 and involved collecting data through focus groups and questionnaires from 150 employees, employers, and people interested in starting their own business. The study investigated opinions on entrepreneurship, profiles of entrepreneurs, and motivations for starting a business. It found the top personal qualities of entrepreneurs were decision-making, perseverance, and self-confidence. Motivations included securing a living, financial independence, and having a business idea or plan. Barriers to starting a business included lack of skills, resources, initiative, and financial support as well as excessive bureaucracy.
1. ENTREPRENEURIAL OPPORTUNITIES AND
THE NEW EMPLOYMENT DOMAINS ON THE
CURRENT LABOUR MARKET – EMPIRICAL
RESEARCH
Nicoleta LITOIU, Ph.D
Associated professor
University POLITEHNICA of Bucharest,
Romania
2. General information about the
research design (I)
The empirical research:
• focused on the development of entrepreneurial
opportunities correlated with the new occupations
on the labor market
• was performed within the POSDRU Project
“Developing the entrepreneurial competences - an
efficient alternative for adaptation to the labour
market in the information society” (ID 62353).
3. General information about the
research design (II)
• was designed in accordance with the analysis
results of the documents regarding the
entrepreneurship in its relationship with the social-
economic and the educational-formative fields and
the dynamics of the labour market.
• used a combination of data collection methods and
instruments (focus-group-type interview and
questionnaire) administered to the following
categories of the target group: employees,
employers and persons who want to start business/
independent activity.
4. General information about the
research design (III)
• Period of research (from the data collection instrument
design to the data analysis and interpretation, as well as
the development of the final study): March to December
2011.
• The sample - 150 respondents
employees and persons who want to start an
independent activity:
• 72.5% are aged under 20 years old
• 17% are aged between 30 and 40 years old
• 9% are aged from 40 to 50 years old
• 1.5% are over 50 years old
Employers: most of them are persons aged from 30 to
40 years old, 76.5% are men, and 23.5% are women.
5. Issues investigated
• Opinions of respondents about the
entrepreneurship
• The entrepreneur’s profile
• Motivation for starting a business
6. The entrepreneur’s profile
• Personal characteristics and qualities:
• decision-making capacity (74.1%)
• perseverance (71.5%)
• self-confidence (66.7%)
• capacity to put one’s ideas into implementation
(58%)
• creativity (56.6%)
• communication abilities (55.1%)
7. Motivation for starting a
business
• securing a decent standard of living (31.4%)
• financial independence (23.5%)
• the personal business idea/plan, knowledge and
abilities, associating with a business partner (16.3%)
• another entrepreneur’s experiences/success
(15.5%)
• lack of perspective in doing something else on the
professional level
8. Barriers in starting a business
(personal and institutional)
• lack of necessary skills and competencies (i.e.
marketing and financial knowledge, managerial
competencies)
• lack of necessary resources
• lack of initiative and self-confidence
• excessive bureaucracy
• lack of financial support and counselling at the
beginning or during the developing process of a
business
