New government schemes to boost employment in first half of 2016

Budapest, January 5 (MTI) – The government will launch further schemes to boost employment in the first half of this year, including a programme to help public workers enter the job market, the state secretary in charge of the labour market and training said on Tuesday.

The scheme for fostered work starting on February 1 will have a total allocation of 3 billion forints (EUR 9.5m) and the government expects 20,000-25,000 people to enter the primary labour market with the help of the programme, Peter Cseresnyes told a press conference.

The government also plans to expand its scheme for interns to include career-starters with vocational skills as well as introducing new forms of flexible work.

Cseresnyes cited latest statistics showing that the number of jobholders reached 4.273 million, some 563,000 more than in 2010. The current unemployment rate of 6.2 percent is the lowest in the past 11 years, he added.

Later in the day Cseresnyes spoke to public all-news channel M1 about job opportunities for fostered workers completing the scheme. He said commerce was the area in the private sector where fostered workers would find jobs the easiest. He said it was possible that participants in the scheme would be given extended training to qualify them for taking a job in the retail sector. He added that critics of the government’s Sunday shop closure laws were proven wrong, as thousands of people were being hired in the retail sector.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters