In the upcoming economic development plan (2016-2021) that comes into effect from March 20, the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare plans to give some concessions to employers who hire university graduates, like granting exemption on payment of specific taxes, the deputy minister Jamshid Taqipour said Monday.
“Employers who hire fresh university graduates will be exempted from paying employers’ share of payroll taxes or unemployment insurance (3% of payroll) for the first two years of employment,” he said at a recent function for employers and entrepreneurs in Zahedan in Sistan-Baluchistan Province, ISNA reported.
The ministry aims to encourage business owners and entrepreneurs in the private sector and cooperatives to take in the young labor force in an endeavor to cut the dole queues and help ensure long-term employment for the army of job seekers.
As per a survey by the Statistical Center of Iran (SCI) on major labor force indicators by sex, urban and rural areas, published in spring (March-June) the number of unemployed stood at 2.6 million and the unemployment rate was 10.9%.
Meanwhile, over 1.5 million people above the age of 60 have returned to the job market after retirement. From among every 100 working people in Iran, seven are elderly meaning many retirees are reemployed, taking the place of fresh university graduates. This indicates that employers are also willing to recruit retirees as they are experienced and have higher skills -- a chronic shortage in and among the growing numbers of youth looking for work.
Another advantage of rehiring retirees is that they don’t need insurance coverage, which is a substantial amount (27% of the gross salary) employers must pay every month, as per law, to the Social Security Organization.
These developments in the labor market have made the ministry come out with the plan to exempt employers from paying the taxes in lieu of hiring varsity graduates.
“The executive bylaws and the professions that will be prioritized, as well as details of resource allocations will be announced once the plan is approved by the cabinet,” Taqipour added.
He said the ministry has other programs on the agenda that aim to assist retirees, the disabled and vulnerable groups, improve health insurance schemes in terms of both quality and quantity and further diversify the targets of subsidies.
Various measures have so far been taken by the ministry to help alleviate poverty and to realize several goals including creating employment for fresh graduates, empowering the disabled, providing female breadwinners with insurance and distributing food care packages among the 10 million living in remote or underprivileged areas.
