Unemployment problem in Georgia

Unemployment as a result of the economic crisis is slowly becoming more and more dramatic in Georgia. All together around 6,000 employees have been fired from different banks and financial organizations in Georgia, all of whom were receiving decent salaries. The development business has also suffered seriously: if you look at the building sites around Tbilisi you see that more and more are now idle or barely operating.

Around 70,000 people were being employed by developers before the August war and financial crisis. At least half of these are unemployed today. Employees of Chiaturmanganum, Madneuli (Bolnisi), Azoti (Rustavi) and other big enterprises are also losing their jobs. The food industry also suffering job losses as is the tourist sector. Many shops are also decreasing number of the people working there.

Georgian trade unions say that more than 350,000 people are unemployed in Georgia today. It should be said that 35% of those employed receive a salary less than the subsistence level.

Chairman of the Georgian Trade Unions Irakli Petriashvili has stated with great regret that the crisis has accelerated much faster than had been expected. Jobs are being lost in different customer services units such as: beauty salons, car washes and so on. The trade unions have asked the Government to take urgent measures to grant allowances to the unemployed as this would not only assist these people and their families but also small traders, as the unemployed will thus purchase more food and essential items from the cheaper shops.