Baku, Azerbaijan, Dec.2
By Fatih Karimov - Trend:
More than 300,000 foreign workers have entered Iran since the Iranian year 1390 (March 2011-March 2012), the Mehr News Agency reported on December 2.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said in a report on his first 100 days in office that six million people in the country are unemployed.
Meanwhile, Iran's Labour Minister Ali Rabi'ee said that over two million foreigners are working in Iran. Afghan, Iraqi, and Pakistani nationals constitute the highest numbers of that group.
Most of the foreign workers are residing in Tehran, Khorasan Razavi, and Isfahan provinces.
Rabi'ee said that the foreign workers are employed in uncomplicated and unskilled work, while the unemployment crisis in Iran is related to university graduates.
The minister said foreign workers have even occupied many jobs in villages, as Iranian workers are disinclined to do low-paid jobs.
On October 25, Head of the Statistical Centre of Iran said the country's unemployment has turned into a crisis.
"The country's youth unemployment rate is currently around 26 per cent," the Mehr News Agency quoted Adel Azar as saying.
"The country's total unemployment rate is also 12.2 per cent," he added.
"Once a country's youth unemployment doubles the total unemployment rate, the country has entered into an unemployment crisis," Azar explained.
It was announced on October 23 that the administration of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has cancelled an employment plan enacted by former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Mehr News Agency reported.
The plan, dubbed as Mehr Afarin, aimed to employ 500,000 persons in government organizations.
Over 542,000 job opportunities were created in Iran during the past eight years.