Results of the State Labour Inspectorate and the National Employment Agency, and New Solutions for Boosting the Labour Market Integration of Persons with Disabilities, Discussed at CONSECON

Opening the meeting, Sergiu HAREA, Chair of Working Group No. 6 and President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Moldova, noted that the topics addressed by the Working Group throughout the year - the integration of young people into the labour market and the Youth Guarantee mechanism, the labour force forecast for 2026, aligning the educational offer with employers' demand, and attracting labour from abroad - share a common objective: developing a labour market that is more flexible, more inclusive and better connected to the real needs of the economy.

The President of the CCI also drew attention to the latest developments on the labour market. According to National Bureau of Statistics data presented at the meeting, in the second quarter of 2026 the labour force stood at 926.9 thousand persons, up 2.5% from the previous quarter, while the employed population reached 859.3 thousand persons. The employment rate rose to 45%, while the unemployment rate fell from 10.4% in the first quarter to 7.3% in the second quarter.

More than 6,200 persons working undeclared were formalised in 2025

The results of the State Labour Inspectorate's activity show that in 2025 the institution carried out 3,453 inspections, up 33% on the previous year. These identified 21,550 violations. Combating undeclared work was one of the main areas of activity: 8,086 persons were identified in situations of undeclared work, and 6,206 of them were formalised, corresponding to a formalisation rate of 76.8%. In addition, the SLI established wage arrears amounting to MDL 165.1 million, 18% less than in 2024.

Nicolae VUTCARIOV, Director of the State Labour Inspectorate stated: “Dialogue between authorities, trade unions and employers' associations is essential so that labour policies respond to the real problems in the economy. For the State Labour Inspectorate, the priority is that employees' rights are respected and that employers benefit from clear, predictable rules applied uniformly. We want to move increasingly from an approach based exclusively on control to one that combines prevention, compliance and firm intervention where violations are serious. Only through this cooperation can we build a safer, fairer and more competitive labour market.”

For 2026, the SLI has set out to place greater emphasis on the effective resolution of petitions, risk analysis in the planning of inspections, digitalisation and the standardisation of control practices. The institution identifies as a direction of development the shift from predominantly quantitative indicators to the assessment of impact, remedying of violations and compliance.

ANOFM: employment services and measures to connect people with jobs

Raisa Dogaru, Director of the National Employment Agency (ANOFM), presented the institution's results for 2025 and the first eight months of 2026. The data show that in 2025 ANOFM registered 41,575 vacancies and contributed to the employment of 20,733 persons. In the first eight months of 2026, 16,348 persons were employed.
At the same time, several active measures were expanded. For example, in the first eight months of 2026, 1,751 persons were enrolled in voucher-based vocational training courses, compared with 700 in the whole of 2025. In the same period, 581 unemployed persons were hired through job subsidies, with the involvement of 352 employers.

“The results of ANOFM's activity in 2025 and in the first eight months of 2026 confirm the growing role of the public employment service in connecting people with opportunities on the labour market. Beyond the figures, we are talking about people who have found a job, developed their skills or received support to overcome barriers to employment. Cooperation with employers is essential to respond to the real needs of the labour market. Our objective is to connect people with jobs as effectively as possible and to help them overcome barriers and integrate into the labour market. By the end of the year, additional efforts are needed to reach the planned performance indicators”, said Raisa DOGARU, Director of ANOFM.

A mechanism to facilitate the employment of persons with disabilities

Another topic of the meeting concerned the possibility of using a temporary work agent to facilitate the employment of persons with disabilities. The proposal was presented by representatives of the Society of the Disabled of the Republic of Moldova Public Association.
The proposed mechanism envisages that a specialised enterprise, founded by an association of persons with disabilities, would act as the formal employer and temporary work agent, subsequently placing the workforce at the disposal of other employers.
The discussions also identified aspects requiring further clarification, including the compatibility of the mechanism with the current legal framework, how the employment quota for persons with disabilities would apply, the allocation of responsibilities in employment relationships and the tax aspects of the model. The proposed steps include a dedicated legal analysis, clarification of the regulatory framework, the establishment of a technical group and testing the mechanism with interested employers.

This activity is part of the project “Assistance for Labour Market Reform”, implemented by the Independent Think Tank “Expert-Grup” and funded by the Soros Foundation Moldova.