As of late first quarter of 2026, there were approximately 32,300 job vacancies in Moldova, with nearly 42% of them in the public sector
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (BNS), the number of job vacancies in late first quarter of 2026 was 0.3% higher than in the same period last year and 1.3% higher compared to the fourth quarter of 2025. The data includes real sector enterprises with four or more employees, as well as all budgetary institutions. The vacancy rate—the ratio of the number of vacancies to the total number of jobs—stood at 4.6%, an increase of 0.1 percentage points compared to the same period last year, while the figure remained unchanged from the previous quarter. According to the BNS, 13,500 (41.9%) of the total vacancies were in the public sector. The most acute labor shortage was recorded in public administration, defense, and compulsory social insurance, where there were 7,900 open positions. This was followed by health care and social assistance—4,800 vacancies—and education—4,100 jobs. The highest vacancy rate was in public administration and defense—13.1% of the total number of jobs in this sector. High rates were also registered in the arts, entertainment, and recreation sector (6.8%) and in health care and social assistance (6.4%). The smallest labor shortages are in the other services sector, where the vacancy rate was 2%, as well as in wholesale and retail trade and in the repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles—2.1%—and in the information and communications sector—2.3%. Compared to the first quarter of 2025, the most significant increase in the number of job openings occurred in education (by approximately 600 positions), in trade and motor vehicle repair (by 500), and in agriculture, forestry, and fishing (by 300). At the same time, the most significant decline in the number of job openings was recorded in the transportation and public administration sectors (by approximately 1,000 positions), as well as in the information and communications and public administration sectors, where the reduction amounted to about 200 job openings in each case. // 04.06.2026 — InfoMarket
