The Ministry of Labor and Social Protection and the Independent Analytical Centre “Expert-Grup”, in partnership with  Soros Foundation Moldova, organized on Tuesday, May 2, a public event to present the concept of reform of the National Agency for Employment of Labor Force (ANOFM) under the title “Reforming ANOFM: A new vision for a more competitive and innovative labor market”. The event was attended by Sergiu Sainciuc, Vice-President of the National Trade Union Confederation of Moldova (CNSM).

According to the organizers, the event discussed the vision proposed by the Government for strengthening the institutional capacities of the National Agency for Employment, streamlining funding and digitizing employment services and measures, as well as increasing funding for the active measures policy until 2026, also taking into account the context of the EU candidate status granted to our country.

The event brought together high-level representatives from public institutions, international organizations, national, international and private sector experts with expertise and interest in this field, who in turn showed their openness to contribute to the development of the competitiveness of the labor market in our country, so as to ensure a more attractive environment for investors and business.

Sergiu Sainciuc, Vice-President of the CNSM, said that the reform of ANOFM is an ambitious intention of the authorities, supported and appreciated by the trade unions, aimed at contributing to the strengthening of ANOFM’s institutional capacities to implement employment policies. The CNSM vice-president underlined that, according to several studies, the situation on the labor market is worrying and more efforts are necessary to train future specialists, including the involvement of several structures and institutions to contribute to the development of the labour market in line with current requirements.

During the event, a representative survey on beneficiaries’ perceptions of ANOFM’s work and the concept of reforming the institution, conducted in early 2023 by CBS-Research and Expert-Grup on a sample of 708 beneficiaries of ANOFM services, was presented. The survey shows that 38.7% of respondents have been out of work for more than two years and every 10th unemployed person has no work experience. At the same time, every 3rd respondent made no effort to find a job (did not contact any employer), and every 4th respondent was limited to contacting 1-2 employers.

Regarding the work of ANOFM, the level of satisfaction with the information provided by the institution and with the vocational training courses offered by its subdivisions is predominantly positive. More than 1/3 of the participants in the survey (35.5%) said they were very satisfied and another 27.7% were rather satisfied.

More information on how the reform of the National Employment Agency is seen and what it entails can be found here.