The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection is developing programs to encourage employment and the budget for these programs has increased considerably in recent years, state secretary of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection Felicia Bechtoldt stated in a public debate hosted by IPN News Agency. According to the official, the authorities are making effort to encourage the development of businesses in rural areas, which leads to the creation of jobs in villages and stops internal migration.
Felicia Bechtoldt noted that during only one year, the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, through its employment policies, managed to reduce 10 times the number of unemployed people receiving social assistance. The budget of programs meant to encourage employment has grown considerably.
“I noticed that there are more employers who raise salaries and offer better salaries. In Orhei, for example, there are companies that offer salaries of 11,000 lei. It is much more than what other employers offer. The National Employment Agency has 10 programs and the budget for these programs increased by 60%. Initially, we had 34 million lei for these 10 employment programs. When the budget was amended, we obtained 54 million lei. About 1,900 people benefited from these programs and were employed,” said the representative of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection.
Also, the scholarship granted to unemployed people enrolled in vocational training courses, for on-the-job training and professional internship, was increased from 15% to 35% of the average official salary.
“We increased the scholarship for people who want to attend professional training courses. We attracted more young people to attend these vocational training courses. The scholarship was previously 15% of the average salary in the economy and we increased it to 35% of the average salary in the economy. Now, for those who want to attend a professional training course, the National Employment Agency not only pays the cost of this course, but also pays a scholarship worth 4,700 lei. We also offer these scholarships to people engaged in professional internship, on-the-job training. It comes to about 4,700 lei,” stated Felicia Bechtoldt.
She also said that the authorities aim to encourage the initiation of businesses in rural areas. To prevent the complete depopulation of villages in the Republic of Moldova, the state provides support to entrepreneurs who launch businesses in rural areas.
“We offer employers subsidies of 30% of the average monthly salary in the economy, which is about 4,200 lei, to integrate people who have difficulties in integrating into the labor market. We also increased the value of the grant for starting a business in rural areas and for expanding local initiative projects. Previously, the maximum amount for someone to start a small business in rural areas was 10 average salaries in the economy. Now this value is 20 average salaries in the economy, which is about 274,000 lei. We want to encourage the creation of jobs in rural areas, outside the municipalities of Chisinau and Balti, in order to reduce internal migration. A lot of people from rural areas come to Chisinau for a job,” said the state secretary of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection.
The public debate entitled “Romania-Republic of Moldova, joint efforts in reforming the labor market” was the eleventh installment of the “Double integration through cooperation and information. Continuity” project funded by the Department for Relations with the Republic of Moldova. The content of this debate does not represent the official position of the Department for Relations with the Republic of Moldova.
