Labor market in Moldova

The National Bureau of Statistics, BNS, measures Moldova’s labor market through the Labour Force Survey and the 2024 Population and Housing Census. The two sources use different methods and should not be treated as interchangeable. The 2025 survey recorded 774,000 employed people and a labor force of 805,000 people aged 15 and over. Men represented 51.2% of the labor force and women 48.8%; urban residents represented 54.3% and rural residents 45.7%. The 2024 Census recorded 782,600 employed people aged 15 and over and an employment rate of 49% for ages 15 to 64. Services employed 67.9% of the surveyed workforce, followed by industry at 14.6%, construction at 9.9% and agriculture at 7.6%. Services have a much larger female share, while agriculture and construction have higher male shares. Agriculture accounted for 14.6% of rural employment but 2.2% of urban employment. Employment also differs by education: the Census recorded 34.0% of employed people with higher education, 49.7% with secondary or vocational education and 16.4% with lower education. Higher education was more common among employed urban residents than rural residents. Chișinău accounted for 39.4% of employed people, followed by the Center region at 25.0%, the North at 21.1%, the South at 10.9% and UTA Găgăuzia at 3.6%. About 85.4% worked within the same development region. Chișinău attracts workers through its concentration of employers, specialist jobs and higher-paid services. Rural workers face longer travel distances and more seasonal or informal work. The Census recorded 5.8% of employed people working abroad, with higher shares in the Center and South. Occupations also vary geographically. Specialists made up 22.1% of employment, skilled workers 15.2% and service and commerce workers 14.5%. Chișinău had a high share of specialists and managers, while the Center had more skilled and unskilled workers. The South had a particularly high share of unskilled work, and rural areas had more unskilled agricultural employment. A formal individual employment contract connects declared pay with labor and social-insurance protection. Informal work weakens that protection. In 2025, informal employment represented 17.3% of jobs and the informal sector represented 12.7% of employed people. Informality was especially high in agriculture and construction. Verbal work without a contract and cash-in-envelope pay can leave workers without reliable proof of income, social insurance or enforceable employment rights. The average gross monthly earning in 2025 was MDL 15,594.5, with average net earnings of MDL 13,226.8. Sector differences were wide in 2024: information and communication averaged MDL 34,199.2 gross per month, finance and insurance MDL 26,517.8, construction MDL 12,267.1, education MDL 11,482.7, agriculture MDL 9,255.7 and accommodation and food services MDL 9,257.2. Actual pay depends on occupation, experience, employer, working time and contract terms. The National Employment Agency, ANOFM, provides free public information, counseling, vacancy matching and support before dismissal. Its territorial offices, STOFM, provide local access. The official angajat.md portal lists vacancies, while the ANOFM Call Center and service module provide information on jobs, training, entrepreneurship and placement. In 2025, ANOFM registered 60,958 jobseekers, recorded 41,575 vacancies from 4,737 employers and supported 20,733 placements. Most listed vacancies were urban, and many concerned unskilled work, skilled trades, machine operation, commerce, health care, programming, driving, cooking and sewing. ANOFM also supports short training courses, workplace training, professional internships and certification of non-formal or informal competencies. A training voucher can support a registered unemployed person who lacks a profession or whose qualification is not requested locally. Authorized or accredited public and private providers deliver the programs. In 2025, the voucher platform listed 37 programs from 12 providers; 697 people enrolled, 561 graduated and 279 entered work. Courses often last about two to six months, while costs and schedules depend on the program. A training bursary may be available, and workplace training can combine theory with employer practice and a bursary; the employer may receive a subsidy of 30%. Labor shortages and population movement affect future access to work. Shortages have been reported for medical staff, nurses, public inspectors and specialists, programmers, security and public-order officers, machine operators, sellers, seamstresses, cooks and drivers. Eligible people aged 18 to 35 who obtain their first full-time qualified job in one of seven strategic sectors may receive MDL 3,000 per month for 12 months under the youth first-job measure. The covered sectors include electronics, machine-building, textiles, agro-food, construction materials, pharmaceuticals and creative industries. Moldovan citizens working abroad represented a structural influence on labor supply. ANOFM registered 867 returned migrants among jobseekers in 2025 and provided legal-emigration counseling and contract registration. The Bureau for Relations with the Diaspora offers return and reintegration information, including study recognition, business, training, legal and psychological support. Foreign workers generally need an employer, a work contract and a work-purpose residence permit, with separate rules for international protection, temporary protection and asylum. The General Inspectorate for Migration, IGM, handles migration matters, while the Ministry of Education and Research, MEC, supports education and skills policy and the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, MMPS, leads labor and social-policy coordination. The National Social Insurance House, CNAS, pays unemployment benefits where eligibility is established. Workers should compare the occupation, declared gross pay, working hours, contract, location, travel costs, training requirements and prospects for progression. Employers must follow legal-contract and, where relevant, foreign-residence requirements. Jobseekers receiving public support must follow the applicable registration, training and placement conditions. A vacancy on a website does not by itself prove that the work is declared or that the offered pay is secure.