Government Boost Employment

Cyprus News 2.11.09

The Cyprus government is working hard to combat the effects of the economic crisis and the latest scheme to be unveiled is making a total of €21 million available to support increased employment on the island.

Unemployment in Cyprus has been rising in recent months, jumping 5.6 per cent in August and a further 5.6 per cent in September. The sectors most affected are construction, retail, estate agency and business services, and hotels and restaurants.

According to the Cyprus Mail, Labour Minister Sotiroulla Charalambous recently announced two schemes worth €10.5 million, which offer a helping hand to businesses and the unemployed. The first will subsidise the cost to employers when they take on unemployed people and the second helps those businesses which have been hit hard by the crisis by offering financial support to allow them to retain their workforce.

Speaking at a press conference following a meeting of the National Employment Committee, Charalambous said that the new schemes were “aimed at combating the effects of the global economic crisis on employment”, and are independent of any programmes implemented by the Human Resources Development Authority (HRDA) and that the money would come from the European social fund. Charalambous said that the total funds available from the government and the HRDA to support employment would reach €21 million in 2010. She added that the hiring subsidy scheme, which will have an initial budget allocation of €4.5 million, should be up and running in November.

The scheme provides for a 30 per cent subsidy of salary for six months, with a ceiling of €3,000 each year. The person must have been unemployed for up to four months, and the employer must commit to an employment period of at least eight months. Charalambous said that the trade unions felt the €3,000 ceiling was too low, and so the government has agreed to review this. She added that the Ministry has the discretion to reallocate funds to boost the initial €4.5 million, in response to demand for the scheme.

The financial scheme to help businesses avoid laying off staff because of the economic crisis has also been well-received by the trade unions. At the moment, the implementation procedure for this scheme needs some clarifying, but it is hoped that it should also be in place by November.