In response to long-term unemployment figures dropping at a slower pace than overall unemployment the government will unveil a scheme next month to cater to the 19,683 affected people’s needs, the Human Resource Development Authority announced on Tuesday.
Noting that the long-term unemployed make up almost half – 47.8 per cent – the unemployed, the authority said the new scheme features incentives for businesses to create new jobs for long-term unemployed people under set terms.
The HRDA said that while total unemployment has shown a significant drop of 17.5 per cent over the last two years, the decrease in long-term unemployment during the same period was lower – 14 per cent.
The majority of long-term unemployed young people, in the 25 to 34 age bracket, are university graduates while most long-term unemployed over 35 have secondary and primary-level education.
The HRDA’s new scheme will run from July 1 to year’s end and aims to get employers to design, create and implement programmes for training and gaining work experience in posts that will be available to the long-term unemployed.
Under the terms of the scheme, the employer will pay the candidate the wages stipulated in the collective agreements, while in cases that one has not been signed the employer will pay minimum wage – a monthly €870.
At the end of the six-month period, employers will be reimbursed for 80 per cent of the cost incurred, with a monthly cap of €1,000.
The training and experience programmes must run for four months, plus two without the government subsidy, and employment must be full and permanent.
Employers may apply for the scheme up to one month before the long-term unemployed’s hiring, but must not have reduced their staff in the specific post in the last eight months.
According to HRDA chairman Demetris Kittenis, long-term unemployment causes economic and social problems, including a loss of skillset quality and self-esteem issues.
“Considering the serious impact of the financial crisis on the labour market, particularly the significant spike in long-term unemployment, despite the general decrease in overall unemployment figures, we prioritised a scheme catering to this particular category of jobless,” Kittenis said.
“Work is a blessing, and the HRDA wants to offer this blessing to as many people as possible.”
The authority’s boss noted that if the scheme proves popular among employers, the HRDA will consider repeating it next year.
HRDA director Yiorgos Panayides said that the goal is for 420 individuals to be recruited, which is the maximum the scheme’s €1.5-million budget can afford for 2016.
