The labour market situation has been steadily improving. This was announced by the Minister of Labour and Social Protection, Irina Kostevich, at a seminar in Vitebsk on the organisation of work for the implementation of Decree No. 1, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.
The labour market situation has been steadily improving. This was announced by the Minister of Labour and Social Protection, Irina Kostevich, at a seminar in Vitebsk on the organisation of work for the implementation of Decree No. 1, as reported by a BELTA correspondent.
"Overall, the labour market situation has been improving throughout 2017 and the elapsed period of 2018. The rate of decrease in the number of employed people in the economy is slowing down. Information for the first four months of the current year will be available by the end of this week, but even the figures for January-March indicate that the rate of decrease was 99.7% compared to the corresponding level of last year. Moreover, there are already two regions in the country where this indicator exceeds 100%. These are Minsk and the Minsk Region (100.8% and 100.1% respectively)," said Irina Kostevich. According to her, this is the result of joint efforts by the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection with regional departments. The improvement in the country's economic situation has also had a positive impact.
Regarding the situation in the Vitebsk Region, the Minister of Labour and Social Protection noted that here, as in other regions of Belarus, there is a positive trend. For example, the rate of decrease in the number of employed people in the economy in January 2017 was 96.7%, and by the end of March 2018, it reached 98.9%.
Another important indicator characterising the state of the labour market is the activity of labour force movement. It is considered based on hired and dismissed employees. The analysis is carried out only for medium and large enterprises. Ideally, dismissals should be less than 100%, and hirings more than 100%. This level was achieved by the end of the first quarter in the Minsk, Grodno, and Mogilev Regions. In the Vitebsk Region, the dismissal rate was 104.2%, and the hiring rate was 111.2%. Last year, 238 organisations in the region operated under forced part-time employment, and 130 in January-March. "This is still quite a lot. However, the trends indicate a significant improvement in the overall situation," stated the head of the department.
As of May 1, the registered unemployment rate nationwide stood at 0.5%, and in the Vitebsk region, it was 0.7%, or 3,378 people in absolute terms. Meanwhile, the number of job vacancies in the labour market is almost twice as high. A similar situation is observed in other regions of the country. According to Irina Kostevich, the main problem is related to the imbalance between supply and demand. "Employers are looking for qualified personnel with work experience. Those who currently apply to the employment service are, as a rule, people who have been unemployed for a long time, have lost their qualifications, or overestimate their potential. In these conditions, we will have to work to satisfy employers on the one hand, and on the other hand, to alleviate tension in the labour market and ensure maximum employment for our citizens. This is the main objective of Decree No. 1 'On Employment Promotion'," the Minister concluded.
The Vitebsk region became the third region to host the seminar (previously held in Brest and Gomel). Irina Kostevich highlighted the importance of these meetings. "We must launch this work correctly. We are open and ready for dialogue, ready to hear from the regions and discuss all issues that arise, and help resolve them. Our main task is to prevent social tension in the labour market," she emphasised.
The second series of seminars is planned for autumn, following the pilot population of the database of able-bodied citizens not engaged in economic activities.