Moldova Moves to Expand Job Support With Swiss Backing and Personalised Help

Jérôme Cosandey, Head of SECO’s Labour Directorate, emphasised Switzerland’s commitment to inclusive and productive employment, decent work and social dialogue.

Finding work can become harder the longer someone remains unemployed, making responsive employment services especially important for people who need more individual support. Moldova is strengthening those services through a new partnership with Switzerland and the International Labour Organization (ILO), giving its National Employment Agency, ANOFM, additional expertise to better serve jobseekers and employers and put employment reforms into practice.

Representatives of the three partners launched the "Employment Support Switzerland–Moldova" initiative on 1 September, building on an existing ILO employment project financed by Switzerland's State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). The support arrives as Moldova prepares its institutions for reforms connected to European Union accession, with greater access to employment measures and more personalised assistance among the priorities.

Expanding Access to Help That Leads Towards Work

Moldova has committed under the EU–Moldova Growth Plan to increasing the number of people benefiting from active labour market measures by 400 percent, according to Minister of Labour and Social Protection Natalia Plugaru. The commitment includes specific targets for women and persons with disabilities, putting greater inclusion at the centre of efforts to help more people access employment support.

Plugaru stressed that adopting legislation is only one part of the task, as public institutions also need the capacity to deliver the changes that reforms promise. The new initiative responds to priorities identified jointly by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, ANOFM and the ILO, including stronger services for people experiencing long-term unemployment and a performance-based management system supported by practical training and relevant European experience.

Giving Employment Services the Tools to Respond

ANOFM Director Raisa Dogaru highlighted the agency's recent work to implement a new legislative framework and introduce employment services and measures, welcoming expert support for the next stage of that work. Improving the agency's ability to respond to different needs is central to the partnership, with technical assistance intended to help turn policy changes into services that work for the people and businesses using them.

Martin Godel, Deputy Head of SECO's Labour Directorate, noted that Moldova's shift towards individually tailored employment services closely reflects Switzerland's Strategy 2030 for public employment services. The cooperation builds on the bilateral Labour Dialogue between the two countries and supports priorities under the Swiss Cooperation Programme 2025–2028, a connection highlighted by Valérie Berset Bircher, SECO's Ambassador and Head of International Labour Affairs.

Building Lasting Reform Through Practical Cooperation

Jérôme Cosandey, Head of SECO's Labour Directorate, emphasised Switzerland's commitment to inclusive and productive employment, decent work and social dialogue. Drawing on the Swiss social partnership model, he called attention to the need for cooperation between governments, employers and workers to function in everyday practice, giving these groups a meaningful role in making employment reforms work.

Claire Harasty, Director of the ILO Office for Central and Eastern Europe, described a stronger ANOFM as an important part of Moldova's wider employment transformation. The new assistance complements ILO support for the forthcoming National Employment Programme 2027–2030, which is expected to include measures advancing the agency's development, and reflects a priority in Moldova's Decent Work Country Programme 2023–2027. Public employment service experts will begin work under a jointly developed plan, with the first results expected by December 2026.