Month of Employment Tries to Change Mentality of Job Seekers

The ministry of Professional Training and Work and the Ministry of Regional Development are still pursueing their efforts to promote awareness about the situation of the employment market and regional market in Tunisia. This initiative, named the Month of the Employment, started last September 12^th and is to end on the 30^th.

According to organizers, 24,000 new jobs will be offered this month, in public and private sector alike. New partnerships between these sectors will be signed and new enterprises will be founded in an effort by the interim government to fulfill its promise to create more jobs, especially for university graduates.

The slogan chosen for this campaign is, “Employment is our responsibility.” The slogan reflects the ministry’s focus on creating a new mentality that will better serve the country and job-seekers. With an average 80,000 university graduates versus only 25,000 jobs available each year, the government is unable to provide enough employment. The unemployment rate has only increased in recent years, and the main causes are a failing institutional, political, and financial system.

The situation has gotten worse since the January 14th revolution, according to a recent Davos report. 173 million dinars and 11,000 jobs were lost, and the nation’s GDP decreased by 3%. The Davos ranking also put Tunisia at 40th in an international competitiveness rating, eight places worse than the previous year.

In a recent conference including the Minister of Industry, AbdelAziz Rassaa, and the other ministers involved in the campaign, Rassaa stressed that the nation is encountering a critical economic situation, and to overcome this crisis, it is imperative to attract more investment in promising and innovative sectors such as information technology. He also emphasized the potential in exportation to European markets.

In Kairouan, Saeed Aeedi, Minister of Professional Training and Work, said that employment is the responsibility of every job hunter. “People are used to keeping their distance from the job market and waiting for an offer.” This mentality needs to change, says Aeedi.