Population Employment

• providing equal employment opportunities for all citizens and foreign nationals and stateless persons permanently residing in the country regardless of gender, nationality, age, social status or religion;
• ensuring the voluntary nature of work and the free will of citizens in choosing a type of employment;
• providing social protection in the field of employment;
• keeping the employment policy consistent with the country’s social and economic needs.

Since 2016, the unemployment rate, as measured using the methodology of the International Labor Organization, has been steadily declining from 5.8%  in 2016 to 4% in November 2019.

There is a steady demand for labor in Belarus. As of 1 January 2020, the nationwide vacancy database featured more than 80,000 job offers.

The State Employment Service has been established to implement the state policy to promote employment and provide citizens with appropriate guarantees. All services provided by the employment service to job seekers and employers are rendered free of charge.

In 2019, more than 135,000 citizens, or nearly 70% of those in need of employment, were placed in jobs with the help of the employment service.

Training programs for the unemployed are an integral part of continuous professional education, which complements the existing system of professional education and provides an opportunity to the unemployed to acquire professional skills needed to resume or start the employment.

The state provides the unemployed with free career guidance services, psychological support, professional training, retraining and professional development, taking into account the labor market demand and supply and in accordance with job seekers’ aptitudes, abilities, skills and  their psychophysical development.

The period of full-time training of unemployed persons referred by the State Employment Service is entered into the work record book.

People raising a child under three may be referred for training as well. A scholarship is paid during the period of training.

In order to promote the employment and to meet the demand for workforce across the country, measures are being implemented to encourage labor mobility.

At the request of the unemployed, the employment service assists the unemployed and members of their families with relocation to a new place of residence and work, and provides financial assistance equal to seven average minimum subsistence budgets In addition, the unemployed are eligible to cash payments in the amount of two minimum subsistence budgets when the unemployed are resettled from cities to a new place of residence and work in small, medium-sized towns, rural areas and satellite towns.

A disability or other difficult life situation, lack of work experience, loss of qualifications due to a long career break limit the ability of citizens to find fitting jobs.

In order to promote the employment of such people, employers are given annual quotas to employ citizens in need of social protection.

Conditions have been created for work adaptation of disabled persons. Funding is provided to employers who create and keep jobs for people with disabilities. In order to gain practical experience in the profession (specialty), assistance is provided to place the unemployed into temporary jobs.

Temporary employment is available for school and university students in their spare time. The government reimburses employers providing jobs to citizens released from correctional facilities  for part of expenses on paying salaries to such employees.

A program to help people with disabilities to adapt to work environment aims to:

• - to help them to acquire and improve knowledge, ability and skills taking into account their specialty (professions);
• - to facilitate skill acquisition and boost skill development at the workplace;
• - to increase the competitiveness of persons with disabilities in the labor market.

Workplace adaptation of persons with disabilities is carried out in accordance with an individual rehabilitation program depending on their abilities and education. This program can last from six months to a year. The government covers expenses employers incur to pay salaries to people with disabilities or to purchase the necessary equipment, materials, and gear.

The corresponding program provides for job placement of people who already have the necessary training, but lack the relevant experience. In this case the government reimburses employers for part of expenses on paying salaries to such employees.

The website of the State Employment Service provides exhaustive information about the services offered by the State Employment Service, as well as about the rights and obligations of employees and employers.

The website offers:

• a personal account for job seekers;
• information about the availability of jobs in all the regions. Information about vacancies is updated in real time by the employment service and employers;
• access to resumes of job seekers. These resumes are created on the website or submitted by the State Employment Service at the request of an unemployed;
• information about developments on the labor market, ongoing events, services provided by the State Employment Service;
• access to legal acts regulating the activity of the state employment service in the field of employment provision;
• a possibility for employers to post information about vacancies on their own.

A new instrument – an electronic career fair – was launched by the State Employment Service in 2019. Virtual fairs offer job seekers the freedom and flexibility to interact directly with potential employers, send a resume or arrange a meeting to make a final decision on the vacancy.

Personnel placement services in Belarus can be provided only by legal entities and individual entrepreneurs listed in the Register of Employment Agencies (to date, this register features 170 agencies).

Employment agencies have to comply with certain rules and regulations. They can charge a fee only after a work seeker is hired.