People Prefer Not to Work to Avoid Losing Social Benefits, Says Pashinyan

There is a significantly high level of unemployment in Armenia. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made this statement in response to a question from representatives of the Armenian community in New York. He also pointed out that there are many vacant job positions in Armenia.

“In the past year, I have been criticized for the fact that one of the reasons for the existence of numerous vacant positions is that in many cases people prefer not to work so as not to lose their social benefits,” he said.

Pashinyan noted that he often communicates with business people, who have expressed dissatisfaction that they cannot find suitable employees. “Strawberry exports have increased by about 200 percent because new greenhouses have been established for growing strawberries. This is our preferred option in agriculture; we call it industrial agriculture, and we prefer it as it is not dependent on hail and other factors. One of the exporters engaged in this business raised the issue, stating that there is a problem in the country as he brings specialists from Europe to Armenia, paying ten times more in salary to get assistance with strawberries,” Pashinyan continued.

According to the Prime Minister, he has assigned the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs to find vacant jobs in Armenia. “In the last 3-4 months, 7,500 job vacancies were found, and of the job seekers, 5,000 were employed,” he stated.

Pashinyan shared that after the fire at the ‘Zyunik’ refrigeration facilities, there wasn’t a single person in Armenia willing to remove spoiled food from the area for even a high salary; as a result, this work was done by Indian workers.