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The paradox between the labour shortage and the high inactivity rate in Moldova discussed at a CONSECON meeting

Friday, 6 March 20261557 views
The paradox between the labour shortage and the high inactivity rate in Moldova discussed at a CONSECON meeting

Automatically translated summary. The full article is available in Romanian.

A meeting of the Economic Council's CONSECON working group, chaired by Sergiu Harea of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, discussed the paradox of labour shortages alongside high inactivity in Moldova. Ministers, state secretaries, immigration officials and business representatives took part.

Businesses reported difficulties hiring foreign workers: accommodation problems, including dormitories with outdated property register data, long processing times for immigration files, and the absence of embassies or consular sections issuing visas in Bangladesh, India and Nepal. Diana Salcutan of the Ministry of Internal Affairs said the Government approved a bill on the admission, stay and supervision of foreigners, transposing about 12 EU acts and aiming to simplify residence rights and digitalise services.

State Secretary Felicia Bechtoldt said Moldova has the lowest employment rate (59%), and that the National Employment Agency placed over 20 thousand people in work in 2025. Deputy Prime Minister Eugen Osmochescu urged better alignment of education and training with real economic needs. Ion Lupan, head of the Economic Council Secretariat, said that had sectors reached the EU minimum productivity level in 2024, nominal GDP could have grown from EUR 16.8 billion to EUR 25.3 billion, or 51%. The meeting was held under the project "Support for Labour Market Reform" implemented by Expert-Grup.

View the original article in Romanian