Employers will be able to reach job seekers through İŞKUR records

A Business World Consultation Meeting was held, hosted by the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Türkiye (TOBB).

At the meeting held at the TOBB Twin Towers Conference Hall, the "Qualified Workforce Training Program (NİYEP)" and "Women's Employment Cooperation" protocols were signed between the Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR) and TOBB.

Minister of Labor and Social Security Vedat Işıkhan, in his speech following the signing of the protocols, stated that they have finalized a study initiated upon requests from employers, saying, "With our Candidate Pool System, which we are launching today, our employers will now be able to reach job seekers registered with İŞKUR, send them messages through the system, and invite them. Thus, we will ensure that our employers meet their personnel needs in the shortest time possible," he said.

Stating that they aim to issue grant calls for the disabled with a different theme from this date forward, Işıkhan said that their main goal this year is to increase the participation and employment of individuals with autism in the workforce.

Emphasizing that they will support the projects of employers who will employ individuals with autism in their workplaces, Işıkhan stated, "We are eagerly and urgently awaiting our projects that aim to include our individuals with autism in employment. With our themes that will change every year, we aim to reflect our social sensitivity in our workforce and ensure social justice."

Işıkhan expressed that they see the contribution of every citizen from 7 to 70 as necessary for the Türkiye of the future to rise on solid foundations, and conveyed that they have mobilized all resources to create new opportunities and open new business areas in women's employment.

"EMPLOYERS WILL TRAIN THE QUALIFIED PERSONNEL THEY SEEK THEMSELVES"

Pointing out that the signed protocols are the product of such an effort, Işıkhan continued as follows:

"With the protocol we signed today, we are taking an important step in training individuals who possess the competencies requested by our employers through the strong cooperation of İŞKUR and TOBB. With NİYEP, we will enable our employers to use a quota of up to 50 percent of their number of employees. With programs lasting up to 160 actual days, participants will receive theoretical and practical knowledge together and will have the opportunity to apply the competencies they have gained immediately at the end of the program. Thus, employers will have trained the qualified personnel they are looking for themselves."

Minister Işıkhan stated that within the scope of the program, employers will employ at least 60 percent of the participants for a period at least twice the duration of the training, noting that they will thus ensure that participants can directly transfer the skills they have acquired to professional life and that employers gain a qualified workforce.

Providing information that they will cover the pocket money, occupational accident and occupational disease insurance, and general health insurance premium expenses of the participants for the vocational training to be carried out within the scope of the protocol through İŞKUR, Işıkhan also noted that they have increased the trainer expenses, which they previously paid up to twice the hourly rate for extra lessons, to four times that amount.

Işıkhan stated that they will closely follow the employment of participants at the end of the training and will pay attention to the sustainability of this process.

Emphasizing that they also prioritize women's employment with the protocol they signed, Işıkhan said, "Between 2007 and 2023, we increased the labor force participation rate of our women by exactly 12.7 points and became first among OECD countries. In the same period, we increased the employment rate of women by 10.3 points, and we are in fourth place in this area as well. With our 'Job Positive' Program, which we launched in February with the presence of Mrs. Emine Erdoğan, we have brought over 485 thousand women into working life."