Close to 700,000 construction workers will be covered by insurance this year.
Minister of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Affairs Ali Rabiei on the occasion of Labor Week, said the street performance by laborers before the premises of the ministry on Sunday highlights the lack of skills in the employment market. “Job placement studies show that 300,000 applicants this year lack the necessary skills to find work. The plans implemented in different provinces imply that only 4% of the job applicants are skilled, and this number is 40 to 50% in some provinces” he added.
Rabiei said the emergence of an educated and skilled workforce changes the demands of the employment sector and new jobs are emerging. Green jobs and Information Technology (IT) fields have remarkable potential; in the field of IT, 30,000 jobs can be created annually, he said, reports Mehr News Agency. Additionally, Rabieie announced the unveiling of IT and green jobs in a special ceremony and added: “We have prepared a plan for worker families so that learning new skills will be free of charge for their children.”
Focus on Jobless
He said the labor class would be the focus of the ministry in the new Iranian year (started March 21). “I am a minister of the jobless citizens and responsible for them. In addition to the 5% increase in jobs planned by the government, we will make all efforts in creating appropriate jobs, both for the applicants and others”.
Rabiei said in the first phase of the insurance plan, 100,000 construction laborers were insured, and hoped that “housing plans for workers will be revised in the current year.” Another task is to avoid turnover rates in the workforce, for which we have authorized support at workplaces facing the problem.” On the unemployment rate, Rabiei said the data of the Statistical Center of Iran are accurate, and at present, approximately two million people are unemployed.
