Alytus City Municipality Mayor Nerijus Cesiulis met on Thursday with Tautvydus Bielozarevičius, director of the Kaunas Customer Service Department of the Employment Service, and Vilija Maksimavičiene, head of the Alytus Customer Service Department. The situation in the labor market in the municipality of Alytus was discussed.
The percentage of the unemployed from the population of working age on May 1. in our city it was 9.1 percent. “The situation is improving, but it is still not encouraging. The unemployment rate is lower in Alytus district, we understand that its residents work in the city and live in the district, we also have long-term unemployed in the city who have not worked for many years,” said Mayor N. Cesiulis.
On April 1, submitted by the Employment Service. according to data, 3,237 unemployed people were registered in the municipality of Alytus. Among the registered unemployed of the city of Alytus, women accounted for 52 percent. (1683), youth up to 29 years. – 18 percent (581). 64 percent – recipients of social assistance (2060).
And on May 1 the number of registered unemployed decreased to 2,903.
As T. Bielozarevičius, Director of the Kaunas Customer Service Department of the Employment Service, said, the question of choosing a job or social allowance is still open – when going to work, a person expects a higher income than the allowance or the minimum wage, otherwise it is better for him to be in the support system than to choose a job, as well the employee expects to be respected and valued in the workplace.
“We have a paradox – there are unemployed people, and employers cannot find employees. People don’t have a job but don’t go to work? A resident of the district comes to work, and a city person does not want to go to work?” said Mayor N. Cesiulis.
How many people are there in Alytus who are actually looking for work, if we exclude those who work illegally and those who do not intend to return to the labor market? The answer of the employment service specialists is about 2,000.
What prevents people from getting a job in general? Most individuals lack social skills and/or motivation to work. Other reasons that prevent work are the care of family members, persons living together, limited availability of funds, addiction to alcohol, narcotic and other psychoactive substances, gambling.
During the meeting, the Employment Service’s learning support programs, which provide the opportunity for unemployed and employed (working) people to learn, acquire the desired qualification or competence, support for creating a business and other support measures were also discussed.
The municipality could act as an intermediary between business and the Employment Service in the exchange of labor market information.
A number of new jobs should appear in Alytus in the near future. “Kaunos grūdai” alone plans to create about 250-300 of them. The factory under construction will produce instant pasta and porridge, and the search for employees is scheduled to start this summer.
