Moldova faces a shortage of skilled labor force. That’s why the authorities should have a strategy to make the young people choose the professions needed in the country’s economy and should convince them to work in the country. The suggestion was made by the chairman of the National Confederation of Trade Unions of Moldova (CNSM) Oleg Budza.

Oleg Budza has told IPN that in the 22 years of independence, no important accomplishments were made in the economic sector. “We became independent, have national anthem and flag, but the people cannot live only on policy and emotions. They need food, cheap services and money to satisfy their children’s needs. A number of necessary things were done in the period, including the privatization, but the mistakes made in the past continue to affect us,” he stated.

According to Oleg Budza, there are a series of laws that are not respected. A large part of the entrepreneurs do not agree with some of the legal provisions. They consider them suffocating and thus chose to work in the black economy. They do not want to come out and take care of the children and the elderly people. According to the trade unions, over 50% of the businessmen work in the black economy.

On the other ham, the honest economic entities want the disloyal competition to be eliminated as one company carries the whole burden, said the CNSM chairman. “We are now going through a difficult period. The economy switched from the centralized model to different forms and structures and now needs qualified personnel. Only 14% of the employers are satisfied with the qualification of the employees. Effort should be made so that the supply and demand are balanced. The foreign investors say the most serious problem of Moldova is the lack of skilled personnel,” stated Oleg Budza.

He also said the quality of higher education is also a problem. There are dozens of private universities that issue diplomas, but do not provide guarantees that the holders of the diplomas have the necessary knowledge. “The most serious problem faced by Moldova is the mass exodus of the working population. 30% of the persons who go abroad do not return. We lose the active population and grow older. There are more pensioners and a salary earner works for a pensioner, at a time when the norm is three salary earners per pensioner. If the exodus goes on, there will be 500,000 salary earners and over 1 million pensioners,” said Oleg Budza.

He underlined that the mentality of the people in Moldova changed and this is a positive thing. Foreign companies came to Moldova and the people who work for them have high salaries and good work conditions.