An online communication service in support of employees with hearing impairments was launched in Chisinau by the Association of the Deaf. The special equipment enables the operators – two authorized sign language interpreters – to facilitate the professional activity of hearing-impaired persons. The service also helps employers that have persons with hearing impairments among the staff.

The online service “Employee – Employer” was launched within the project “Deaf Skills Moldova” through the 2018 Grants Program for youth organizations. Contacted by IPN, project director Yevghenny Munteanov said the operators of the service can be contacted from Monday through Friday, from 8am until 10am, through Viber and WhatsApp on 069678600 and 078012889 or by the Skype address Deaf Center.

According to Yevghenny Munteanov, there are no statistical data about the number of working persons with hearing impairments nationwide, but these were estimated at about 5,000. As many as 2,547 such persons are members of the Association of the Deaf. A number of 1,860 persons are able to work. The specialized enterprises of the Association employ 65 hearing-impaired persons.

The Association of the Deaf said most of these employees work as guards and sweepers. Even if there are vacancies, the persons with hearing impairments cannot apply for them owing to the obstacles faced in the communication with employers. The shortage of sign language interpreters is another problem. There are only 17 such interpreters in Moldova and these cannot meet the needs of hearing-impaired persons.