The President of Georgia visited the Adjara Employment Agency in Batumi today. Mikheil Saakashvili met with the agency staff and spoke to them about the importance of the system. As the President noted, the new agency will help reestabilish a link between job seekers and employers, which according to him is a prerequisite for overcoming unemployment.
“Businessmen have already learned it and they employ people from the retraining center. A lot of people desire to study at the center, but there aren’t enough spots. This is why we have to create a primary testing system for the unemployed, a personal Facebook page for everybody as well as a relevant personal box at City Hall. As soon as a relevant profession comes up we should connect an employer and a job seeker with each other. Several years ago we brought workers from abroad to Batumi; mainly from Turkey. We should no longer bring foreigners aside from the professions where we lack qualified cadres. The Chinese are working in Tbilisi. I understand that China has a lot of workers to export, but first we have our people to employ. We have to work a lot in this direction” – noted Mikheil Saakashvili.
The President of Georgia also spoke about increasing the pension package and noted that next year persons over 60 years of age will receive a 100 USD pension package. However, according to him, employing people under the pension age and using their experience is also important.
According to the President’s statement, connecting such people to the employers is exactly what the agency is supposed to do.
Mikheil Saakashvili offered a new innitiative to the employment agency personnel. The Head of State offered them to create a Facebook page, so that those who desire will have access to the agency base electronically.
“Soon we will have computer knowledge spreading in our society in every village, which we are creating not for playing but to have access to databases to employ people, sell production, and for people to realize their talent. This is a good beginning but we should elaborate on it. We should use qualified specialists, for which we should constantly work more flexibly. It is easier to find a job at a construction site at a specific infrastructural project than to find a job as a lawyer or economist, but on the other hand creation of such projects employs people of these professions anyway. 12 persons work at this agency. These people should employ 750 persons within the next few days and this is the essense of the Ministry of Employment. This is why it is necessary for the state to get involved in this affair –the market alone will not be able to deal with this problem” – stated Mikheil Saakashvili.
Mikheil Saakashvili also expressed interest in the registration process at the agency and spoke to job seekers about the Batumi educational potential.
“Batumi is becoming an education center of European importance. This is the first place in Eastern Europe where a full scale American Technology University is being opened with persons of relevant profession and qualification at every faculty – highly qualified employees. Additionally, we are moving to a stage when the European Commission will open an European University here. For example, a university just like the ones in Belgium or Bruges. The centers that are being opened in terms of education means that Batumi is becoming a regional hub around Europe and the Black Sea. This is why I understand that we are looking for welders today, but we will definitely need mathematicians” – noted Mikheil Saakashvili.
Applications of 5,840 persons have already entered the Adjara employment agency as of today. 1,500 vacant positions of different professsions are in the database of the agency.
Mikheil Saakashvili visited the employment agency with the head of the government of Adjara.