In 2013, 52,000 people were newly employed

Unemployment rate now at 7.8 percent

On December 20, Prime Minister N.Altankhuyag reported on labor employment at the open session of parliament. There are 1.8 million able-bodied people above 15 years old in Mongolia. Some 1.1 million citizens are economically active. Not including students, the disabled, seniors, and those taking care of children, the number of unemployed are 88.9 thousand. The government implemented a national program

called ‘The Mongol man with income and jobs’ to create 150,000 workplaces over four years. Some 52 thousand people were employed in 2013,” noted the Prime Minister. Nationwide, 62.1 percent of the eligible workforce, or 1.09 million people, are employed. Among city residents able to work, 54.8 percent are employed; and in rural places 74.9 percent of the workforce has jobs. The unemployment rate is 7.8 percent.

Workers demonstrate the skills they learned at the vocation center

In order to create workplaces, the government is adhering to the following three principles – to develop employment skills and qualities, train professional employees, and extend labor employment service availability. The professional vocation centers and polytechnic colleges have concluded triple contracts with more than 2000 economic entities as a result of which more than 6000 professional workers were prepared and 80 percent of them were provided with jobs. Another 16,000 people were covered by the workforce quality program and 10,000 of them found jobs after being educated and trained. Over 1500 students worked on construction projects in soum and local areas during their summer vacation, enjoying more than Tgs430 million as salary, wages and bonuses. Tgs24 billion was distributed in 2013 to the Soum Development Fund to encourage people’s business interest. In other words, no less than Tgs 150 million was invested in each soum. Loans were granted for 7486 projects from this fund meaning that almost 20 thousand new workplaces were registered.

An online ‘E-exchange’ was placed in 141 soums and 134 khoroos with an aim to bring labor market information and work employment closer to the citizens and create a direct interconnection between employers and the workforce. As of December 1, 42.8 thousand people were looking for work while 51,917 new jobs and 26,089 employer’s information was registered in this system, said the Prime Minister. More than 300,000 citizens were served by 345 E-exchange machines at the state level. There are 14.7 thousand people from 103 countries employed in Mongolia with 65.6 percent of them in the mining, processing and building construction sectors. Compared to November, the number of employed people decreased by 5.8 thousand.

“In 2014, the government does not intend to reduce the number of new workplaces, prepare 7000 skilled and qualified workers, provide temporary workplaces for 10,000 students, introduce a per hour work system, and implement a special job program for people above 40 and retired people, declared Prime Minister N.Altankhuyag. Members of Parliament were introduced the PM’s information in advance. The MPP group made the following conclusion in connection with the statement. “Unemployment and poverty resulting from unemployment becomes a social tragedy for Mongolian society. To combat unemployment and poverty by working out and executing a right, purpose-oriented policy, becomes the duty and responsibility we have taken before our people,”concluded the MPP group in parliament, which was not satisfied with what the Prime Minister said in his statement.

Some 30 percent of the 54,753 workplaces were created in 2013, in other words, 16,426 people were involved in temporal seasonal works by being employed for no less than an average of 30 days. “In connection with the report made by the Prime Minister, we had telephone talks with 178 people selected from the list of 38,327 citizens being involved in two days work. When we asked what kind of work they do now 93 people or 52 percent responded they are not working. Jobs at the labor exchange were low-paid and labor conditions were not adequate, they said. Another 85 people or 48 percent said they are employed. This means 48 percent of 38,327 citizens who responded that they were provided with workplaces totals only 18,937 new jobs, said MP N.Nomtoibayar. According to MP N.Nomtoibayar, Tgs235 billion was distributed from the State Budget in 2013 to the government to support employment; thus Tgs12,773,820 was spent to create one new workplace. However this big amount of money was enough to pay Tgs192,000, the lowest labor payment to 101,996 people for 12 months.

The MPP group expressed concern that the government is spending the taxpayers’ money with no positive results. The MPP members forwarded about 20 proposals as recommendations for the government to fight unemployment and poverty. For example, they recommended renewing the policy and tightening work ties

between the Ministry of Economy and Development, Ministry of Education and Science and Labor Ministry because connections in the present labor market between those looking for jobs and those supplying jobs are not interconnected. Also, to increase the tax collected from foreign employees in order to protect workplaces in the domestic market, and at the same time, reduce tax from foreign skilled workers and professionals who are in demand in the labor market, support the flow of jobs from the city to rural regions with an aim to eliminate labor employment differences in the city and the countryside, favorably work-out programs influencing rural development, create permanent and temporal workplaces for resolving desertification, pasture deterioration, air pollution, forest fires, water, forest, flora and fauna reserve shortage, support income building activities, support scope competitiveness of Mongolian national products on the foreign market in foreign relations and trade policy, seek possibilities for becoming a service and production producer according to outsourcing, or provide service to other foreign contractors, take a set of actions supporting contributions to the national development of Mongolians who were educated and worked in foreign countries, and accumulated rich experience. 

Source: THE MONGOL MESSENGER