BY AYDIN AYAYDIN
SABAH- Now that Ankara has won a date for the beginning of its European Union membership talks, it’s high time we address other issues, such as unemployment, one of Turkey’s most pressing problems.
According to official statistics, 9.5% of our working-age population, some 2.38 million people, was unemployed in the third quarter of this year. Analysts say that there is additionally some 9% of our population which is unemployed but not counted as such. Therefore, the actual rate of unemployment is higher than the official one, meaning there are four million-plus people unemployed in Turkey. The Turkish Industrialists’ and Businessmen’s Association (TUSIAD) says that a half a million people must get jobs each year just to maintain the current level of unemployment.
Economic production and efficiency rise if and only if unemployment falls. The more you boost employment, the higher economic production goes. The ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) views tackling unemployment as a priority. Although the Erdogan government set up a commission to deal with the problem, results have been scarce. In addition, the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) has conducted comprehensive research on the issue and made the results public. I personally find the CHP’s study very useful. I think the government should use it in shaping its unemployment policy.
The CHP study notes that the chief culprit in unemployment is ‘job loss,’ which means people become unemployed when they are no longer needed in their current positions. Therefore, these people need to attend professional workshops or training programs so they can learn new skills. They should be encouraged to find new occupations. An industrial country trying to transform itself into an information-based society needs sweeping changes to its education system.