Labour market sustainable

The pandemic has had a great impact on the global labour market but the way chosen by Belarus to counter it has proved its effectiveness – as asserted by Oleg Tokun, the departmental head at the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, in his talk to Belarus 1 TV channel

At present, the citizens of Belarus and Russia enjoy equal rights not only in choosing a place of residence, but also in employment, labour remuneration, and pension benefits. It’s definitely convenient, even despite the fact that each of the sides autonomously settles emerging issues on its territory.

The pandemic has truly affected the labour market but, as Mr. Tokun noted, the situation is recovering, “It’s actually always very sensitive to how the economy is developing and this was especially clearly seen last year, when businesses were closed all over the world, workers were laid off, and unemployment skyrocketed. Meanwhile, we turned to a different path. In Belarus, enterprises did not cease their work and there were no mass layoffs. As a result, the situation on the labour market is stable, and the unemployment rate makes no more than 4 percent.”

According to the official, non-professional occupations enjoy the greatest demand in Belarus now. Meanwhile, flexible employment – which was widely used during the pandemic and proved effective – will be envisaged by Belarus’ Labour Code.