Alexander Khristoforov: "The employment service not only assists in employment but also provides an opportunity to master a new profession"
On May 30, 1991, the Law "On Employment of the Population of the Republic of Belarus" was adopted in our country, which defined the legal, economic, social and organizational foundations for regulating the employment of the population and actually laid the foundation for one of the institutions of the market economy in our country – the state employment service. The employment service of the Vitebsk region today is an effectively developing structure that uses the entire spectrum of modern technologies for providing state services in its work.
– Alexander Nikolaevich, what are the most important priorities defined for the service for the next five years?
– These are increasing the flexibility of the labor market and developing its infrastructure. To employ the unemployed, reduce illegal employment, improve the quality of work, and more effectively use labor resources in the context of transitioning to an innovative development path. And the main task was and remains – caring for people, doing everything possible to ensure that a person finds their place in the labor market and has the opportunity to realize themselves.
Over three decades, with the assistance of the employment service, more than 880,000 people have been employed in permanent jobs. This is the result of close cooperation between specialists of labor, employment and social protection bodies with the authorities, employers of all forms of ownership, public organizations and associations.
– What increases the effectiveness of interaction between the employment service, employers, and job seekers?
– Electronic job fairs, which have been held in the region since 2019. By participating in electronic job fairs on the unified information platform e-vacancy.by, job seekers can communicate with employers online and ask questions about vacancies of interest.
In addition, the employment service not only assists in employment but also provides opportunities to improve qualifications and master a new profession.
– How many unemployed people have acquired a new profession?
– Over 30 years, more than 85,000 people have been retrained, acquired a new profession, and improved their qualifications. Currently, training is organized in 35 professions, such as painter, plasterer, facing worker, tile setter, electric and gas welder, plumber, electrician for electrical equipment repair, auto repair mechanic, cook, salesperson, hairdresser, confectioner, manicure and pedicure technician, forklift driver, etc. The training schedule is posted quarterly on the regional executive committee's website.
In addition, if there is no suitable vacancy in the unemployed person's place of residence and there is a vacancy with provided housing in another settlement within Belarus, the employment service, with the consent of the unemployed person, can assist with relocation by providing financial assistance and reimbursement of moving expenses. Since 1994, with the financial support of the employment service, 2,277 families with unemployed citizens have changed their place of residence for employment purposes.
– What kind of assistance do you provide in organizing your own business?
– Consultative, methodological, and gratuitous financial support in the form of a subsidy for organizing one's own business is provided to citizens registered as unemployed.
More than 8.5 thousand unemployed people in the region have received subsidies to organize self-employment. The subsidy amount is 11 living wage (LW) units per capita when organizing one's own business in urban areas and 15 LW units in rural areas. Today, this is about 3,000 rubles and 4,100 rubles, respectively.
– In recent years, employment policy has become increasingly targeted towards socially vulnerable categories of the population?
– We maintain a consistent course of a socially oriented state policy, showing care for all our citizens. We strive to support those who are facing greater difficulties today: this primarily includes people with disabilities, for whom we have been implementing a new direction – supported employment – since 2019, as well as minors and professionally unprepared youth, pre-retirement age individuals, single and large parents raising children under 18, and citizens returning from correctional facilities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs penal system.
– What would you like to wish your employees on the eve of the holiday?
– I sincerely thank all employees of the public employment service, and veterans, for their contribution to the overall economic development of the Vitebsk region. I am convinced that your professionalism, enthusiasm, responsiveness, and conscientious attitude towards work will continue to be directed towards making the region prosperous, and our fellow countrymen – successful and in demand in the labor market.
I express my gratitude to the main partners – employers of the region – for their constructive dialogue on promoting employment!
I wish everyone professional growth and new achievements in implementing the tasks of the state employment policy.
– Thank you for the interview.