Minister of Labor and Social Protection of Azerbaijan Salim Muslimov
says
unemployment rate in Azerbaijan is about 5% as a whole, while it is at around 9% for youth.
“In Azerbaijan, 29% of the population is comprised of our youth. This is the highest figure not only in Eastern Europe, but also among the former CIS countries.”
The head of the League for the Protection of the Rights of Workers, Sahib Mammadov, believes that the
unemployment
rate among young people in the country is higher than this figure.
“Today in Azerbaijan, the unemployment rate among young people is not 9%, but several times more – there is a need for the government to prepare an “Employment Strategy”. The labor market must be fully understood in this document. It should include research on why young people are not employed, what professionals are lacking, which, on the contrary, are over-represented in the labor market… “, Mammadov said.
According to him, about 800 thousand people today are out of work in the country, but those that own a plot of land fit for agricultural purposes are considered by the census as employed.
He explained that 9% is an indicator of only official statistics. However, if the labor market of the Republic of Azerbaijan were to be reliably studied, then this indicator would be several times higher.
“I believe that the State Committee on Statistics provides information to the Minister, which does not reflect the actual reality with its indicators. They cover only the formal labor market. So I would not be so optimistic about unemployment”, he added.
