About 60 per cent of the respondent Ukrainian refugees reported being employed in the Republic of Moldova. Among them, 44 per cent of the active population were in regular employment, followed by informal and daily workers at 10 per cent. A small proportion were self-employed (4%), shows a report by the International Organization for Migration (IOM), which is quoted by IPN.

More men were in regular employment compared to women at the time of interviews (82% versus 35%). Conversely, the share of unemployed women (49%) was five times higher than that of men (10%).

According to most unemployed respondents, a series of barriers complicate the process of economic integration. Firstly, a significant majority (64%) mentioned the lack of job opportunities in the Moldovan labor market. Half of the respondents (49%) identified the language barrier as a difficulty. While the language barrier was identified as one of the main obstacles in job hunting by most respondents, only 21 per cent of those unemployed had begun a language course to enhance their employment prospects. The third most mentioned barrier to finding employment was the lack of information, which was reported by 12 per cent of the respondents.

Strategies used to find employment were through social media, consulting job portals, sharing their curriculum vitae, and consulting with local employment agencies.

IOM’s Displacement Tracking Matrix (DTM) collected data through surveys with refugees from Ukraine during the period April to June 2024. In the Republic of Moldova, a total of 1,892 individuals were interviewed. This report focuses on the economic integration of the respondents, delving deeper into their employment profiles, skills, and prospects for participation in the local labor market.