Polish government steps up efforts to fight unemployment

"The amount includes PLN 700 million (EUR 165 million) allocated to a programme targeting people under 30," Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz says.

Employers who sign up, recruit young staff whose wages are largely footed by the state, reimbursed up to an amount equal to the country's minimum wage, PLN 1,750 (EUR 410), for a year. In return, in the second stage, the company is to guarantee employment paid for by the enterprise over the next twelve months.

The Labour Ministry also boosted funding for training and scholarship programmes, and subsidies the total employment costs of staffers aged 50 and over.

While this year's budget forecast a 11.8-percent joblessness rate by the end of the year, Poland registered a one-digit unemployment figure in September. (aba/rk)

Source: IAR