For Zied Laadhari, Minister of Employment and Vocational Training, unemployment is a structural problem that could never be solved in the medium term. To do this, entrepreneurship is the best solution to create a new economic dynamic while ensuring the generation of new employment positions.
Interview:
Can you tell us about the priorities of your department for the first 100 days of the government?
These are five priorities. The first concerns the establishment of new mechanisms to support and assist the creation of micro-projects. This is important because private projects and entrepreneurship are not yet developed. However, this is what is required by the Tunisian economy and more specifically youth.
Creating own projects does not mean that we flee our responsibilities as a state in recruitment where the door of the civil service was open.
The state remains the largest employer in the country. However, we are aware that the state alone is unable to assume responsibility for integrating all applicants, estimated at 10,000 annually in the job market. Add to that more than 600,000 of whom 60,000 unemployed university graduates and 1 out of 4 of our young people who belong neither to higher education nor to vocational training. This is an alarming problem.
That is why we are committed through our role in recruitment and employment, but we want to open the horizons for young people by directing them to the private sector and creating own projects in different areas.
These SMEs and VSEs could be a catalyst for development as is the case in other countries such as Japan and the United States where SMEs play an important role in the national economy.
This step, in my opinion, goes from awareness and implementation of programs to additional training, coaching as well as financing. In this context, it is important to note that the Department of Employment has managed to find new formulas also affecting self-financing and commitment to studying files in a short time for a reply within 20 days.
The second priority is relative to the support of companies who experience difficulties; their number rose to 2,000 with short-term loans.
The third priority is the creation of a national portal of recruitment competitions for the public sector. This project will be operational in late May.
The fourth is the encouragement of local and regional employment initiatives, besides encouraging enrolment on professional training centers by granting bonuses for well-defined specialties.
Could these five priorities actually absorb the thorny problem of unemployment?
I think we should start with small steps to achieve small gains in order to get into great details. Today, it is useless to do great things since structural reforms take time.
But if at every time we get into small initiatives, the impact will certainly be important and fruitful. With the accumulation of these initiatives, we can create some momentum. Need I remind you that we will start with 13,000 projects in the private sector, since a project in itself, could generate between 4 and 6 job positions. Therefore for the 13,000, the number will be significant.
We can go further, if this approach is launched from the coming months, not to mention the resolution of the problem of 2,000 projects and the recruitment of 1,400 in vocational training and 400 for local initiative involving four regions, namely Tataouine, Kef, Gafsa and Ariana before targeting others.
It is important to start with small initiatives that would have the economic profitability and could contribute to solving this problem.
With these initiatives, I am confident we can give hope to our young people who are called to make sacrifices in this situation where the mobilization of the department is confirmed to meet this challenge.
The problem of unemployment, which is structural, could not be resolved through an individual effort, but by shared responsibility between all stakeholders.
Long-term unemployed people in Gabes have been observing a hunger strike for over a month. They claim the right to work and dignity. What do you think?
We are aware of the situation of the strikers and that is why we urge them to end their movement that can only threaten their lives.
It must be admitted that unemployment is a structural problem, and this is the result of a series of accumulations. So it is difficult to solve it through hunger strikes. The situation of unemployed people is certainly difficult, but we must find the right outcome.
To do this, the government has proposed some solutions and we hope there will be a positive response from them. We have already proposed a move towards setting up their own projects. We have also suggested employment opportunities in the private sector while the latter solution regards the reactivation of the environmental company in Gabes.
We are in talks. Indeed, a meeting was recently held in coordination with the Prime Ministry and the Ministry of Industry to activate this recruitment
Are these long-term unemployed people able to create new projects?
Without a will, you can not move forward. We must begin and as a department, we try to improve and learn from other experiences.
In my opinion, these unemployed people are young and they could innovate and take risks to succeed.
What about the “environment, planting and gardening” company in Gabes,” knowing that a similar experience in Gafsa continues to stir controversy, because it would be a corrupt initiative, according to several observers?
I think the state has assumed its responsibilities and was aware that the public sector alone would not be able to integrate other recruitments. Earlier and with social demands, the creation of environmental companies was the way to deal with it.
The recruitment was not activated for several reasons, considered complex and related to this situation
We cannot hold anyone responsible for that. Indeed, these officials provided the same effort, even if they were not able to enable to activate the recruitment. But here, we are here to do it as long as there are needs and the activation of this company is a priority.
Many experts argue that the development model was the cause of rising unemployment. What do you think?
The development model created in the 70s no longer fits in the country. It is time to move towards a new economic model that is based on technology and added value especially as it is more necessary than ever to go upmarket to create jobs.
Smart Tunisia set up in coordination with the Ministry of technology is part of this approach. We already took the first step with a private company that will certainly be followed by others. This project would create 50,000 jobs over the next five years.
As Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training, we fund companies by providing financial incentives for major foreign companies able to invest in this area.
What are the incentives?
The benefits are many. Indeed, we could provide concerned companies 100% insurance coverage and provide 50% of salaries to reach 250 TD. Add to this the 5000 TD aid for training and the granting of a premium of 700 TD to the company that will recruit young people.
The state could, through these mechanisms, play the role of facilitator and catalyst for creating a new dynamic.
