Unemployment – an acute Georgian problem

Unemployment has been an acute problem for Georgia in recent years but recently it has become catastrophic. According to official data the unemployment rate in Georgia is just over 14%, but according to the most optimistic assessments of Georgian analysts the real unemployment rate is 30%.

The official criterion of the International Labour Organization is that someone is considered as employed if they have worked for at least one hour in the week before they are surveyed. However according to analysts this is only the first step towards making a full unemployment analysis, the next being to assess part time employment, latent employment trends, employment efficiency etc. Applying these criteria creates the real picture of Georgian unemployment, which is more concerning. According to trade union data about 450,000 people in Georgia are unemployed and the figure of people who live below the poverty line is significantly higher.

The President and Government representatives state that the Georgian economy is progressing and more factories and plants are being opened. Independent analysts state that economic growth and investment inflow should impact on the labour market. Georgian economic growth however has been accompanied by unemployment growth.

Economic analyst Irakli Iashvili says that since 1998 the labour market structure has not changed. “The number of people employed in the private sector hasn’t increased. The number of self-employed people is static. Thus it can be said that the declared economic prosperity has had a negligible effect on the labour market, and this seriously questions the hypothesis of economic growth,” says Iashvili.