Moldova is grappling with a severe labor shortage in quantity and quality, warned economist Veaceslav Ionita during the “7 Days“ program on Cinema 1, bani.md reports.
According to Ionita, only 854,000 people are employed in the national economy—200,000 in the public sector and just over 600,000 in the real economy. “This is a dramatic figure that hasn’t changed in over 15 years. We collapsed between 1990 and 2010, and since then we’ve been stumbling,” he said.
Worse still, more Moldovans work abroad than at home, placing Moldova in a nearly unique global position for a country with over 2 million citizens.
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“In construction, it’s not just that workers are leaving—skilled workers are leaving, and unskilled ones are arriving. In trades that require years of training, this shift is catastrophic,” Ionita explained.
He also raised alarm over staff turnover, particularly in key sectors. “In HoReCa, 60% of employees change annually. In restaurants, that may be acceptable. But in construction, healthcare, or education, it becomes dangerous.”
Ionita highlighted a stark divide in the workforce: the most qualified are leaving, while the least prepared remain.
He tied rising absolute poverty to this selective migration: “The poor haven’t multiplied. The young and wealthier are leaving, leaving behind the vulnerable. The labor market reflects the same trend.”
In 2023, the labor force shrank by 33,000 people, 31,000 from agriculture. Meanwhile, the public sector saw slight growth. “It’s a steady decline, with no internal balancing. Not only are people leaving, but the best are leaving, and those who come don’t know the job,” he said.
Ionita concluded: “The biggest tragedy of Moldova’s economy is not just the lack of people, but the loss of their quality. We have fewer and fewer people, and more and more poorly trained.”