During the past five years, the population’s activities have been profoundly influenced by such phenomena as aging, external migration and structural problems of the supply in the national economy. With the diminution of the population, the employment rate among the economically active population declined. The gradual diminution of the employment rate affects the development dynamics of the national labor market, says a study of the labor market in the Republic of Moldova that was presented by the Association for Democracy Development “DECID”.
In a news conference at IPN, Mariana Yatsko, study author, said the study centers on the main characteristics of the labor market in 2015-2020. There are mentioned the challenges and policy directions aimed at ensuring integration in line with the requirements. It was determined that the labor supply in Moldova continues to be vulnerable to economic crises.
“During the economic crises, if we speak about 2008-2009, the unemployment rate rose significantly, to over 6%, with decline tendencies during the next years. At first sight, there are general positive dynamics on the labor market, with the unemployment rate being under 4% in 2019. However, owing to the pandemic since this March, the necessity of more profound and complex analysis of the unemployment situation on the labor market appeared,” explained the author.
Mariana Yatsko also said that labor migration is the phenomenon with the greatest social intensity. This influenced profoundly the situation on the labor market and the demographic situation in the Republic of Moldova. Statistics show that 352,700 persons work abroad, the figure being on the rise. “What is worrisome is that the young people continue to be the group with the most pronounced intentions of leaving the country, followed by the 45 plus age bracket. Together they represent 62.8% of the total number of persons who intend to go abroad to work,” said the study author.
According to her, informal employment is another worrisome aspect. Despite the positive evolution, the informal employment becomes more accentuated in rural areas. The share of informal employment remains high in the agrarian, building and industrial sectors.
The study authority presented a number of demographic policy and national labor market attractiveness directions. Among these are to adjust the legal provisions aimed at reducing dependence on social assistance and unemployment benefit, to review the mechanisms that would stimulate the rise in the number of jobs at SMEs, to reduce payroll taxes and increase them on capital and to broadly implement re-qualification programs intended for persons of median age and those with low and medium qualifications.
