The labor market has shrunk
The imbalance of supply and demand in the labor market has not been overcome. On the one hand, jobs that provide high incomes and require professional experience are a product of industry, which is largely “niche” in nature. On the other hand, the level of training and educational programs do not correspond to the knowledge and skills demanded in the labor market.
The results of the analysis of the labor market from the employers’ point of view for 2026, presented by the Agency for Employment of the Population (ANOFM) and economic expert Yuri Morkotylo, indicate a number of interesting and sometimes contradictory trends.
First, entrepreneurs’ plans to expand their businesses and thus invest in job creation are slowing down, indicating a deterioration in business activity and prospects for expanding demand. The actual number of employees of enterprises increased by only 0.8%, compared to the planned value of 3.6%.
Such a big gap is observed during all 3 years, during which the experts observed the movement of the headcount (2024-2026). Moreover, the smaller the size of the company, the greater the discrepancy between planned and actual headcount, its instability and unpredictability.
“In sectors such as public administration, education and health care, employment levels remained stable (±1%), while market-oriented sectors showed significant fluctuations, reflecting different exposure to economic cycles,” Yuri Morkotylo points out.
Shortage of “high skills”
The expert argues that the labor shortage, despite complaints, is growing quite moderately, remaining limited in scope: the share of employers affected by labor shortages increased slightly from ~13% (2023) to ~15% (2025).
While most companies remain under little pressure, the shortage is concentrated in large and medium-sized companies: over 50% of large companies (~54%) and ~30% of medium-sized companies face hiring difficulties, indicating the structural nature of the problem.
Micro and small companies are less affected, but there is an increasing trend: their share has risen from 6% to 8% (micro companies) and from 14% to 17% (small companies), indicating a gradual widening of the shortage.
As for training requirements, “the share of planned new jobs for highly skilled occupations has fallen significantly: from ~34% in 2024 to just 23% in 2026, indicating a sharp shift in employer demand towards medium and low-skilled professionals.” Fewer and fewer companies are offering wage increases as a measure to address labor shortages and as an incentive to improve skills, says Yuri Morkotylo.
Raisa Dogaru, ANOFM director, said that “based on the examples of EU countries, especially Sweden and Lithuania, ANOFM has been developing a labor market forecast since 2009”. The director added that by conducting surveys of employers, the agency “gets first-hand information about the main issues facing the business environment regarding the labor force and the skills needed.” And they are sometimes radically different.
Ludmila Stichy, Secretary of State at the Ministry of Education and Science, noted that “to meet the growing demand from employers for skilled middle-level professionals, the Ministry is prioritizing the development of dual vocational education and training and the acquisition of specialized skills and qualifications.” The Secretary of State emphasized that in order to accelerate this process, it is crucial to involve the business environment in the training process, “so that the potential employee clearly understands what skills are in demand by employers”.
Lack of motivation
Igor Krapivtsa, CEO of Orvento-Metall:
– The main problem in solving the labor shortage remains the motivation of personnel. To solve this problem, a strategic and comprehensive approach is needed at the state level. Thus, it would be advisable for the state to encourage wage increases, thereby contributing to the increase in employee motivation by reducing the wage costs incurred by employers. For example, by reducing employer contributions to the social insurance fund by 2% if wages increase by more than 20%. A similar legislative initiative has been developed by the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, and it may be worth revisiting.
MarinCiobanu, administrator of the Balti Free Economic Zone :
– Moldova competes for investment not only with countries in the region, but also possibly with much more distant geographical areas such as, for example, countries in Africa. Investors evaluate a country very carefully when deciding to enter the market, but they pay the most attention to the qualifications that the labor market can offer. In this context, it is time to improve the quality of education, and for this we also need dedicated, professional and motivated teachers, so that the best professionals will be interested in continuing their studies in the education system.
Sergiu Harya,President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry:
– It is time for the Secretariat of the Council to formulate a request to the relevant bodies in order to initiate consultations to adjust the public policy framework in this area.
The labor market is transforming
Although the demand for low-skilled labor is increasing due to shortages, at the same time 2026 is characterized by an increasing need for engineers and quality specialists due to the transition to European norms (abandonment of GOSTs). In general, the labor market is in the process of transformation.
The shift in demand towards low-skilled labor reflects not only the current critical shortage of personnel (for various reasons), but also the transformation of the economy. This context was heard in all the speeches. There will be products with high added value – there will be specialists. And vice versa.
The reasons for the shift are not usually spoken aloud, but they are there. For example, about 30% of the employed population of Moldova works in the public sector, which limits the inflow of personnel to private business. The low level of automation in a number of sectors keeps the demand for manual labor at a high level. And the high demand for seasonal workers and the service sector are mainly interested in labor force without special knowledge.
Focusing on immediate needs, the Moldovan authorities, who discussed this situation, including at the platforms associated with the Economic Council under the Prime Minister (and similar working groups on labor market development), consider active import of labor from non-EU countries (in particular, India, Bangladesh) to work in agriculture and construction.
The main conclusion of experts and business representatives is that the economy is facing a shortage of about 300,000 employees to reach the EU minimum productivity level.
The conference participants also noted that in order to solve the problem it is necessary not only to attract migrants, but also to reform the labor remuneration system to make the local market more attractive for citizens.
