Unemployment Archives - Iran News Daily

UK to Avoid Lockdown to Stop Unemployment

reporter 1222 — Thu, 01 Oct 2020 08:57:40 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government is seeking to avoid a full national lockdown to prevent unemployment soaring into the millions, Environment Secretary George Eustice said on Thursday.

“I’ve not seen any projections of 4 million but certainly we know that there are some 700,000 extra people that are already unemployed as a result of this, and yes you know the projections are, that there are going to be economic impacts,” Eustice told Sky.

“It’s for precisely that reason that we are trying to avoid full lockdown,” he said, Reuters reported.

Britain’s Office for Budget Responsibility forecast in July that unemployment would peak at 11.9% in the final quarter of 2020 under its central economic scenario, equivalent to just over 4 million people, before averaging 3.5 million in 2021.

In a more negative scenario, unemployment would average 4 million through 2021.

The Bank of England has forecast that unemployment will rise to around 2.5 million by the end of this year.

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730,000 Jobless Since Coronavirus Lockdown in UK

reporter 1222 — Tue, 11 Aug 2020 08:45:15 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Payroll figures in the UK show 730,000 people have lost their jobs since the start of the coronavirus crisis lockdown as the country braces for an expected acceleration in unemployment.

Data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed a leap of 81,000 last month alone despite continuing support for employers via government loan vehicles and the Job Retention Scheme for furloughed workers.

The claimant count – which covers those claiming benefits for unemployment and because they are on low incomes – rose 116.8% to 2.7 million between March and July.

There was evidence too of a wider squeeze on incomes with regular pay falling by 0.2% in the three months to June compared to the same period last year.

That represented, the ONS said, the first negative growth in regular nominal earnings since records began in 2001, Sky News reported.

The figures were released hours before the Treasury was due to give an update on take-up of its various support schemes that, at their height, saw the pay of 9.5 million workers be supported through the Job Retention Scheme.

That number has gradually fallen back as the economy has re-opened from its COVID-19 hibernation.

Commenting on its findings, ONS deputy national statistician for economic statistics Jonathan Athow said: “The labor market continues recent trends, with a fall in employment and significantly reduced hours of work as many people are furloughed.

“Figures from our main survey show there has been a rise in people without a job and not looking for one, though wanting to work. In addition, there are still a large number of people who say they are working no hours and getting zero pay.

“The falls in employment are greatest among the youngest and oldest workers, along with those in lower-skilled jobs.

“Vacancies numbers began to recover in July, especially in small businesses and sectors such as hospitality, but demand for workers remains depressed.”

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Unemployment in France Surged 22.6% in April

reporter 1222 — Thu, 28 May 2020 11:14:43 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The number of people in France signing for unemployment surged in April by 22.6% to a record high as a nationwide coronavirus lockdown shut down swathes of the economy, Labor Ministry data showed on Thursday.

The number of people registered as seeking work jumped by 843,000 from March to 4,575,500, the highest since records began in 1996, the Labor Ministry said, Reuters reported.

The ministry said that the surge was due to a nearly 35% drop in the number of people getting new jobs while the number of people joining the tally fell 19%.

The data do not include people who have been put on state-subsided furloughs during the crisis, which the ministry said on Wednesday numbered nearly 13 million.

France’s government put the country under one of the most strict lockdowns in Europe in mid-March and the country is only gradually emerging after most restrictions were lifted on May 11.

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Foreign workers feel the pain of corona unemployment in Japan

reporter 1222 — Tue, 05 May 2020 09:06:02 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Eight years after arriving from Brazil, Rennan Yamashita sat in a government office in central Japan, filling out forms for unemployment insurance after losing his job for the ninth or 10th time — he has lost count.

Some weeks earlier, he was laid off from his job at a car parts factory. He only held that job for four months, Reuters reported.

“If they need you, they hire you; if they don’t need you, they’ll fire you. It’s simple like that,” said Yamashita.

The coronavirus pandemic has hit Japan’s economy hard and many factories, including those of carmakers, are scaling back production.

Foreign workers are particularly vulnerable, with a weaker support network and language barriers that prevent them from seeking government help.

Union groups, labor lawyers, and nonprofit organizations say foreign workers such as Yamashita are the first to lose jobs in “corona cuts”, which they fear may expand to the kind of mass layoffs seen in the 2008 financial crisis.

Last month, the Japan Center for Economic Research estimated that if Japan’s GDP contracted by 25 percent this year, the unemployment rate would reach five percent and about two million people could lose their jobs.

In March and April, a labor organization based in Mie, a manufacturing center about 300km west of Tokyo, received 400 consultations from laborers who were affected by the coronavirus. About 330 were foreign workers.

“Foreign workers on short-term contracts are laid off first,” because they’re easier to fire, Union Mie organizer Akai Jimbu said.

Last year, 34.5 percent of foreign employees in Mie were temporary workers, compared with the national average of 2.5 percent.

“It’s almost like they’re hired so that they can be fired when the going gets tough,” Jimbu said. “They’re just a spare bolt in the eyes of the employer.”

Japan has become increasingly reliant on foreign labor. With a third of its population over 65 and a smaller working population, the government has eased some immigration restrictions.

More than 1.6 million foreign workers supported the Japanese economy as of October 2019 — a four-fold increase from 2008.

A Labor Ministry official said the ministry does not officially track the number of foreign workers laid off because it provides “support to all workers” regardless of their nationality.

Still, the government recently allocated 370 million yen ($3.46 million) to improve multilingual support for foreigners at unemployment offices and online.

But most foreign workers don’t turn to the government for help. While Union Mie handled hundreds of consultations this year through mid-April, the local Labor Ministry office saw only seven.

Kaori Nakao, a Japanese-Brazilian woman, sought help from the union when her employer laid her off from a car component factory at the end of March.

The company told her she was being fired because of coronavirus-related production cuts. Nakao was also ordered to leave her company apartment.

Pregnant with her fourth child and with no savings, she asked Union Mie for help. Last month, union members and Nakao protested outside her employer’s office and the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Thermal Systems factory where she worked.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Thermal Systems declined to comment because it did not employ Nakao.

“I just want to work,” Nakao said. “I have zero money and I can’t even buy food for my children.”

Yamashita, who is still looking for jobs, said he had found an open position at another car parts factory a few weeks ago.

The contract was only for three months — maybe even less. Still, Yamashita said, it was something. He interviewed for the job and was looking forward to a respite from searching.

But then he got a call. The position wasn’t available anymore. “We are the first to go,” he said of foreigners working in Japan. “I already know about that.”

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France Claims Unemployment of Private-Sector Workers

reporter 1222 — Wed, 22 Apr 2020 12:12:04 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – More than 10 million employees in France – one out of every two in the private sector – have been laid off during the coronavirus lockdown and are now benefiting from an extended indemnity program to weather the crisis, the government said Wednesday.

“Today in France there are 10.2 million employees whose salaries are being paid by the state, “Labor Minister Muriel Penicaud told BFM television.

Around 820,000 employers, or more than six in ten, have applied for a social security program that grants 84 percent of net pay for workers temporarily laid off because of a drop in business, a number that is increasing “day after day,“ she said.

“It’s a considerable number, we’ve never done anything like it in our country,” she said, AFP reported.

President Emmanuel Macron vowed that “no company would be abandoned to the risk of bankruptcy” when announcing the widespread business closures and stay-at-home orders implemented on March 17.

His government last week raised its economic relief package to 110 billion euros ($120 billion) and extended the temporary layoffs program to individuals who employ nannies or cleaners who can no longer come to work.

Penicaud said entire sectors of the economy have effectively been shut down, with nine out of ten workers in hotels and restaurants as well as in construction now unemployed.

“We see how big a task it will be getting back to work after the confinement,“ which the government plans to start lifting on May 11, Penicaud said.

“The longer this crisis lasts, the harder it’s going to be afterward.”

Also on Wednesday, the head of the state investment bank BPIFrance said nearly 40 billion euros in government-backed, low-rate emergency loans had been extended to businesses amid the coronavirus crisis – an average of 140,000 euros to some 251,000 businesses.

“It’s practically certain that we’re going to go beyond 100 billion euros,“ Nicolas Dufourcq told RTL radio.

But business groups have warned that even with the loans and financial relief such as delayed payment of payroll taxes and other charges, thousands of small and midsize companies could be facing bankruptcy this year.

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Hundreds of Kenyans in Capital Protest Unemployment

reporter 1222 — Wed, 09 Oct 2019 15:56:23 +0000

According To Iran News, Hundreds of unemployed Kenyans on Wednesday took to the streets of the capital Nairobi over lack of employment opportunities in the country.

This came a couple of weeks after media and companies in different sectors started laying off staff due to tax-disputes with the Kenyan government.

“I was among 414 who were sent home on Sept. 30, those who were retained also had their salaries reduced by 40%,” Ann Njeri Wairimu, a student at a Nairobi University and mother of two, told Anadolu Agency.

“Our government promised us jobs ahead of elections. We have no jobs, we are crying today on the streets of Nairobi because of this,” she added.

The unemployment topic has been trending on Kenya’s social media in the past week.

“We, the concerned youth of Kenya, assemble here today in full vigor to protest the alarming rates of unemployment in Kenya, levels of societal breakdowns and the sorry state of our economy,” Withera Wanjiru, one of the organizers of the protest, told Anadolu Agency.

“It is overwhelming that over the last few months, more than 14,236 employees have lost their jobs and there is no remorse for it from the government,” she added.

Wanjiru noted that Kenyan economists predict that the numbers would rise. Job loses so far have hit nearly all sectors of the economy from commercial to insurance firms, manufacturing to telecommunication firms.

According to the World Bank, the proportion of Kenya’s youth to the population is among the highest globally.

In a petition, many unemployed Kenyan youth said that corruption has taken away resources meant for youth development.

They called for expunging the additional taxes in the Finance Bill 2019, saying the business environment is not conducive to investors.

The crowds were later dispersed by police who used teargas canisters. One protester was arrested.

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1.09mn jobs to be created by Mar. 2020

reporter 1222 — Sat, 15 Jun 2019 08:30:29 +0000

According to the sixth five-year development plan of Iran, the government is urged to create one million jobs to reduce unemployment rate by 0.8 percent annually.

As reported, however, some 464,000 jobs were created in the previous Iranian calendar year.

From among major policies applied by the Rouhani administration preparing the annual budget bill has been controlling unemployment rate and preserving job creation.

To improve general livelihood of Iranians, spur job creation, support production, and reinforce budget discipline this year’s budget bill is aimed also at increasing the salaries of government’s employees and the retired besides continuing implementation of the planned programs to combat absolute poverty and improve healthcare.

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