Turkish government considering new incentives for youth employment: Minister
The Turkish government is considering new measures to encourage companies to employ more young people, Labor and Social Security Minister Jülide Sarıeroğlu has announced.
“We need to create new employment opportunities to bring down the jobless rate. We are focusing more on people aged between 18 and 25,” Sarıeroğlu said on Jan. 14 while addressing the local youth branch of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in Ankara.
İşkur, the state employment agency, will not hold vocational courses anymore, the minister said.
“Instead, we’ll provide companies an opportunity to provide training to prospective employees in line with their own needs. We will help young people get training in the fields they choose,” she said.
As part of the new scheme, companies employing one to three workers will be encouraged to hire people between the ages 18 and 25, Sarıeroğlu added.
“Under the new scheme, İşkur will pay the first month’s wage, social security premium and taxes of the newly employed,” she said.
According to latest data from the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) released on Jan. 15, youth unemployment rate dropped to 19.3 percent in October 2017 from 21.2 percent a year earlier.
