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SubscribeDecision 2008 and Creating Jobs: It’s the economy, stupid
By Nazik Mkrtchyan
http://www.amnewsservice.org
It can be difficult to reconcile that Armenia is struggling economically when visiting Yerevan, with its busy construction of modern buildings, new districts and luxurious private estates. However, the Yerevan activity doesn’t represent the full image of Armenia; an excursion to the rural areas shows a picture of economic stagnation.
“They say Yerevan is the capital and needs to be representative; I agree. Let it be more beautiful. Gyumri is also recovering. That’s okay as well, as people have lived in temporary living facilities for a long time. But the soul of each inhabitant of a place like Artik has become a disaster zone. That’s for sure too,” says 45-year-old Artik resident Stepan Chichakyan.
With Yerevan rapidly changing and developing, the
second big city of Armenia is still far behind.
“Our factory made a product worth 5 million rubles; it’s always been a big amount of money. Now the annual circulation is around 1–2 million drams only (about $3-6,000). It would be silly to even compare,” says Artavazd Karapetyan, the former director of the Steklomash heater factory, adding that no more than 7 people work there now.
Unemployment statistics vary, but according to numbers supplied by the Artik employment center, the official unemployment figures are only about 8-10 percent. But that number only includes people who were employed previously, and are actively looking for work. According to the National Statistical Service of Armenia in Shirak in 2006, about 105,000 people were classified as “economically inactive” – which is nearly half the population.
Artik--like many other cities in the regions of Armenia—is struggling to rebuild its labor market and looking to those in government to aid them in creating jobs and boosting the economy.
In a November 2007 poll by the International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX), citizens of Artik said the position of a presidential candidate concerning economic policy and unemployment is among their top concerns. Artik’s poll numbers mirror those of 800 respondents from Gyumri, Vanadzor, Sevan and Hrazdan. Unemployment and economic policy are at the top of the list of voter concerns.
After the collapse of the USSR, the factories that employed most of Artik started shutting down, leaving the majority of the local population unemployed and leaving Artik scrambling to find a new economic base. Today around 30 percent of Artik’s employed work in health care, budget and trading, according to the Local Tax Department. Even though small businesses have begun to sprout, many residents say it is not enough.
“Unfortunately the labor market in Artik is very small; it’s limited to small businesses—the sellers, hair stylists, the carpet makers and computer operators,” says Svetlana Harutyunyan, the executive director of the Artik Local Employment Center.
Harutyunyan’s center offers short-term projects and programs to minimize unemployment in the region. In 2007, Harutyunyan says the center offered around 25 temporary construction jobs, which lasted 1-3 months. These aren’t enough to assuage the city’s larger unemployment problem, Harutyunyan says.
The center also offers state-funded training programs and job placement services. And though Harutyunyan says those initiatives have had some success reducing unemployment, problems remain: jobs are temporary and seasonal, employers hire off the books and wages remain low.
“I wish I could stay with my family and be with them, but I can’t afford it as the wages are nothing here to keep my family,” says Tigran Paloyan, an Artik resident who supports his family by working abroad.
Ashot Kocharyan also laments his low wages. “I’m working and I get 80,000 drams (about $245). It seems that’s not bad, but my family consists of 6 people. Divide that money into six, and see if it’s possible to live normally. I’m saying live, not survive.”
This article was originally published by ArmeniaNow.