Inclusive and productive employment in Moldova

The development gap between Moldova and the rest of Europe has narrowed down. In 2000, the country’s per capita income was 14 per cent of the average EU income; in 2020 the national income per person reached 29 per cent of the EU average. However, the country still has one of the lowest per capita incomes and gross wages per worker in entire Eastern Europe. Even before the pandemic, economic growth was mostly jobless. A look at unemployment rates is misleading, they have been low (2019: 5% for the age of 15+, 2020: 3.8%). The real problems are low employment rates and high levels of inactivity, particularly among youth, women, and older workers . Other key labour market challenges are aging of the population and continuous emigration, skills mismatches, and high levels of informality. While the economy is recovering from the strong recession caused by the Covid-19 pandemic (GDP decline in 2020: -7%, estimated growth in 2021: 4,5%), the much-needed recovery of labour markets is lagging. The pandemic has exacerbated the high levels of inactivity. The labour market might get under further pressure as result of compounded energy and refugee crisis. Moldova has received the largest number of Ukrainian war refugees per capita among all receiving countries in Europe. This project addresses the above challenges and builds on the offer of the Government of Switzerland to support the implementation of the ILO Decent Work Country Programme 2021-24 for the Republic of Moldova. The project proposes a complementary package of interventions on creation of more and better jobs, improved employability of people through TVET and adult learning and formalization of employment. Enabling outcomes for all four components are the promotion of social dialogue and a contribution to the digitalization agenda of the Moldovan Government.

Project symbol

MDA/22/01/CHE

Admin unit

DWT/CO-Budapest

Start date

01/12/2022

End date

30/06/2025

Total allocation

2212104

Total expenditure

Status

Active

2142912

Development Partners

Switzerland, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs

Country/Countries

Republic of Moldova

Outcomes

Outcome 6: Protection at work for all
Outcome 3: Full and productive employment for just transitions