Gov't planning monthly state support of 2,250 lei to employers hiring jobless, welfare benefit recipients

Employers who hire jobless and welfare benefit recipients could get 2,250 lei in monthly state support, as per an emergency ordinance initiated by the Ministry of Labor and Social Justice, a measure intended to support employers, Labor Minister Lia Olguta Vasilescu announced on Tuesday at the government offices. 

"As of now, the Labor Ministry will follow a different line of action, choosing to no longer support those who are able to work but unwilling to do so, which is why we thought of supporting all those in the business milieu who plan to hire in the coming period. The state will pay a monthly 2,250 lei - the equivalent of 500 euro - to employers who hire jobless and welfare benefit recipients for each such person, over a time span as long as five years, depending on the category of the future employee," said Lia Olguta Vasilescu.

The LabMin mentioned that the money will also be offered for hiring young graduates of whatever form of education - vocational school, high school, faculty - hard-to-employ youth, apprentices of any age and trainees, disabled persons and people near retirement age who have difficulty in finding a job. 

"Of course the employers can offer higher pays than the state disbursement for each new employee, so that Romania wages get closer to EU pays and the labor exodus stops," Vasilescu explained. 

She mentioned that state subsidies to employers will double compared to the year before and that unemployment is expected to further go down despite being already at a post-Revolution low, so that those currently on welfare benefits get a job.