Half of Moldova's workers have left the country

I have recently read an informative note of the National Bureau of Statistics of Moldova giving a new number of those who work abroad - about 344 thousand people. At the same time, certain international organizations or their missions with offices in Chisinau operate with different numbers - between 300 and 600 thousand people. Others give even the number of 1 million people, including those - and these are quite numerous, according to statistics - who work abroad temporarily and spend some time in Moldova too. Either way, it is not definitely known how many Moldovans work abroad at the moment.

Anyway, this number is nothing but an apocalypse for a country that eventually thinks about its future, taking into consideration that the number of working people in Moldova is estimated to be approx. 600 thousand people and about the same number is considered to be working abroad (over 80% for sure)! If the migration process continues (and there are no signs or reasons for it to stop!), Moldova is threatened by a demographic extinction.

For the past few years, the political class of Moldova, in the hands of which the future of the country is, whether we want it or not, seems to be content: the labour market has been released from tension and it seems that there is no unemployment anymore. Moreover, the culmination of "happiness" is the recent declaration of the Prime Minister, who has requested to develop an action plan to return Moldovans home, motivating this decision by the fact that the economic situation in the country is obviously improving and that there have been created 15 thousand new workplaces .

The Government's proposal seems to be quite promising, but the head of cabinet has not mentioned how well-paid these workplaces are going to be or the fact that almost the same number of workplaces has been closed. Or maybe economic agents are ready to pay a salary of 700-1,000 Euro per month to people that will return? They are certainly not. If I lived in another country, I would most probably trust the Prime Minister. But we are talking about Moldova, which, in my opinion, needs a long time in order to become an economic miracle in the region.

Moldovans who work abroad send money to the country that partly covers the exorbitant and dangerous deficit of foreign trade. Also, until this money reaches their owners, it is taken from banks by those who have enriched themselves within this endless period of transition and directed at exaggeratedly expensive and uncontrolled import. The Moldovan export of labour has become not only a source of easy and consistent profit for foreign capital on the migration destination markets, but also a pitiful way of depriving poor Moldovans who are knocking around the world of their rights by those who have enriched themselves within the transition period in Moldova.

It is not known yet how long this situation is going to last. Certainly, the chain will break in the end. It is possible that migration will suddenly become emigration (Moldovans who work abroad will settle there; actually, this tendency can already be seen). Subsequently, the money being sent to Moldova now will disappear. Import profiteers will mark their profits and urgently leave Moldova in order to secure their income. While losers will stay in the country to be blamed! Because it is always the poor who pay the bills, for they stay in the country either in the lack of adventure spirit or for the sake of some illusory national values.

If the present tendencies on the labour market persist, the question how the Moldovan population will look like in 2050 appears. We could be close to the situation when an employee will support 10 pensioners, children and students. From their salary pensions, allocations, health and educational services will be paid. Studies show that even if there is a constant economic growth, the demographic problem will not be settled. Here is the explanation: after 2007 less numerous generations will enter the labour market. Over one more generation, beginning with 2030, the labour market will be filled by children born during transition, which are probably the least numerous. Subsequently, it is possible that in order to complete its labour force, Moldova will have to attract workers from other countries of the world.

In this context, certain estimations by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) show that if things are going as they are now - low birth rate, negative natural increase, massive emigration of population - the Republic of Moldova could become an old, ill and almost bare country by the middle of this century. Why? Currently, a higher number of women go to work abroad, we get ill more frequently than Europeans, parents hesitate to have the second child either because of poverty or in order to keep their job. These factors will inevitably have a negative impact on the Moldovan labour market. Of course, there are also other aspects to be discussed, but those mentioned above must be included as a priority in the Government's agenda. Otherwise, the "human" crisis in Moldova will become even more devastating!

Gheorghe Stanila lives and works in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, where he is a well-known intellectual. Although he does not support Pridnestrovie's independence, he understands that Moldova in its current form holds very little attraction for people who live elsewhere: When Moldovans themselves are even leaving, why would anyone new want to join...