Makarian: In Armenia people live in the here and now without planning

In Armenia people live in the here and now as their incomes do not allow them to make plans for the future, the Chairman of the Union of Employers Gagik Makarian said at a press conference today.

According to him, International Workers Day is not celebrated anymore – it has become just another nonworking day.

Armenia’s labor market differs considerably from those in other countries and has its peculiarities, the union chairman said.

“There are currently about 60,000 people working at big industrial enterprises. About 190,000 employees work in the state sector, and 220,000 in the private sector. In terms of employment, small businesses account for a large share of jobs, contrary to popular opinion that big business provides most jobs,” Makarian noted.

Makarian underlined the low level of the culture of signing labor contracts in the country. “Employers are often unaware of the problems they may face because of the absence of labor contracts, while employees are very often unaware of social benefits of that document,” he said.

As for employers’ attitude towards the accumulative pension system, Makarian said their opinion about the law’s application is mainly negative.

“Employers take a negative attitude towards the compulsory accumulative pension system. We believe that the reform is premature,” G. Makarian said.

In his words, the new government of Armenia first of all should try to deal with problems of concern to society.