The educated youth hunting for work are getting a rare chance to land government jobs through a national test coordinated by the Management & Planning Organization and the National Center for Testing (the same body that conducts university entrance exams). The test will be held in late May through which 13 state bodies will screen and rate the applicants.
Organizations that will hire new staff include important bodies such as the Scientific & Research Center affiliated to the Presidential Office, the Commission on Administrative Justice, the Iranian National Tax Administration, Iranian Legal Medicine Organization (Association of Medical Examiners), Iran Civil Aviation Organization and the ministry of industry and commerce.
The fact that the main screening process is conducted by the National Center for Testing gives it added credibility and also makes it an impartial venue for tight competition among job seekers. An official at the National Center for Testing told Khabaronline that until Saturday, almost 17,750 had signed up for the exam.
Hossein Tavakkoli said the deadline for registration would end today (Monday). Another official at the Management & Planning Organization told Fars News Agency that 70% of the qualification process would be determined based on the written exam and the rest would be decided during interviews. Ali Jamali Ghomi put the present number of government employees at 2.3 million, with the ministries of education, health, agricultural jihad and the ministry of higher education with the largest payrolls, while the ministry of justice had the least number of state employees. Ghomi said the ministry of education is overstaffed and will not hire more people, at least for now.
Gender Disparity
As for gender and positions to be offered, the government has already announced the specifics. Out of the 2,800 vacancies at the 13 government offices, 2,284 are reserved for men, 500 for both sexes and barely 16 will be filled by women. In other words, according to an analysis conducted by Shargh newspaper reported by Tabnak website, 82% of positions are male-only, a bit more than 17.5% shared by both sexes and measly 0.7% for women.
Among the 13 bodies, some of the most male-dominated ones are the Iranian National Tax Administration, the Legal Medicine Organization and the Scientific & Research Organization of the presidential office. For instance, the key tax organization is hiring 1,434 men and only 50 women could get a chance of employment, and out of the 322 vacancies at the medicine institute, 212 will go entirely to men. Other notable examples include the Veterinary Medical Organization whose 275 vacancies have room possibly for hardly 90 women, and the Presidential Scientific & Research Organization has made 94 slots out of the available 100 the prerogative of men. Finally, the Tehran Ambulance Service has made its vacancies male-only by offering all the 212 positions to men. The few vacancies which have been reserved only for women appear to have left the decision-makers little or no option, due largely to the unemployment tsunami visiting the country for several years.
The government decision to hire new people comes, according to the economic news website, Eghtesadnews, at a time when latest figures released by the Statistical Center of Iran suggest that unemployment among women is twice that of men. According to the same report for autumn 2014, joblessness among men between ages 15-19 was 17.9% while for women in the same age bracket was 39% - which is more than double. It is high time that the government policy and decision makers reconfigure their manner and approach in the crucial job sector.
