On July 17, woodworkers in Ijevan closed the highway to protest a government decision banning them from entering the forest and collecting wood.

Governor of Tavush Hayk Chobanyan arrived on the scene to speak to the demonstrators. He   touched upon the jobs issue and the use of local wood.

"Tomorrow our website will post an announcement about some 50 jobs, ranging from 8,000 to 15,000 drams a day. Other details will be included. Everyone can come to the provincial administration, file for the job they want, and go to work,” Chobanyan said in an interview with the demonstrators.

Ten days later, Chobanyan has not yet kept his promise.

We checked the provincial administration’s website and found nothing about these jobs

Hetq sent a written request to the Tavush Governor Chobanyan, asking him to provide information on how many job vacancies there are in the province and their salaries. We also asked why Tavush residents aren’t applying for these jobs, if, in fact they exist.

Governor Chobanyan replied that the provincial government hasn’t yet investigated why residents aren’t applying for the jobs and that he couldn’t provide any further information on the matter.

Chobanyan did note that as of July 24, according to data provided by the State Employment Agency's territorial offices, there are 355 vacancies in the province, and that the list is updated daily.

The Tavush governor, in his letter, indicated that the list of vacancies and salaries can be found on the agency's website.

As of July 26, the State Employment Agency’s Tavush branch offices published information on 418 job openings.

For example, the Dilijan Employment Center posted a notice about 71 job vacancies.

There was one job offer paying 300,000 drams monthly. This was the highest salary of all the 71 jobs posted.

Another job offer, for a loader operator, was posted paying 250,000 drams monthly. There were three similar job offers paying 200,000 drams.

 There are also three vacancies (a kindergarten nurse, an Armenian language/lit teacher, a cook) paying 150,000 drams each.

All the other jobs listed paid less than 150,000 drams a month. monthly salary for other jobs is less than 150,000 drams. There were job openings for a  psychiatrist, pediatrician, bartender, each paying 78,000 drams.

The Ijevan Employment Center posted a list of 136 job vacancies.

It turns out that there were only four jobs (designer, laborer, driver) in the Ijevan area paying a top salary of 150,000 drams monthly.

There were four jobs (winemaker, laborer, endocrinologist, children's anesthesiologist) at the  next highest salary, 120,000 drams per month:

Salaries for the other posted jobs were  advertised at under 120,000 drams.

The Noyemberyan Employment Center advertised 29 vacancies. The highest paying job, 105,000 drams, was for a hemodialysis doctor. There was a 90,000-dram vacancy for a gynecologist.  The other job openings (pharmacist, confectioner, baker, etc.) commanded lesser salaries.

The Berd Employment Center reports that there are182 registered job seekers on its books

There are 67 vacancies for the position of machine operator, with monthly salary range of 70,000 – 148,000 drams.

The highest paid jobs, paying 250,000 drams monthly, are in the health field – anesthetist, surgical department head, polyclinic therapist , pediatrician.

There was a job posting for a jeweler paying 200,000 drams.

There were postings for a dermatologist, neurologist, a glove sewer, and mechanic paying 100,000 – 150,000 drams.

There was a job vacancy for two emergency unit doctors paying 175,000 drams each.

The lowest paying job offers were for teachers, ranging from 14,000 to 130,000 drams.