The shortage of labor force in such areas as constructions, agriculture, transport and industry in Moldova amounts to 57% of the needs. Chairman of the Construction-Assembly Employers Association Pavel Caba has told IPN that the authorities must launch a reform in the area of staff training so as to deal with the given problem.

“Any progress, especially in business, is based on several elements, namely money, labor force and administration. In Moldova, we face problems in all these areas. The volume of investments is low, while the labor force is not skilled and is even insufficient. In transport, constructions, agriculture and industry, the shortage represents 57% of the needs. For comparison, in the trade sector the shortage is 30%,” stated Pavel Caba.

According to the employers, the investments in training workers in Moldova are higher than in the neighboring countries. “We make investments and prepare them, while they graduate from universities and go abroad. Something must be done to stop this process as we prepare workers for other regions,” said Pavel Caba.

He also said that he recently wanted to hire a university graduate, but that person asked a too high salary. “I offered her initially 3,000 lei for secretarial work. She asked yet a salary of €400. When I asked her to do other things too, she told me she is unable to. I think the young specialists are not prepared for our economic realties. That’s why we avoid employing them,” said the Association’s chairman.

Asked how the employers deal with the shortage of staff, Pavel Caba said they attract people from rural areas when they are not involved in seasonal work. “The people must be interested in doing training courses so as to be better qualified and not to leave the country and the families,” he added.

According to an independent study commissioned by the National Employers Confederation of Moldova, the unskilled labor force is regarded as a constraint and almost half of the Moldovan companies encounter problems when they need to hire personnel with the wanted skills and abilities.