At a special session of parliament today, Armenian Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Affairs Arman Udumyan said that the ongoing coronavirus crisis would lead to a 1.3% increase in the unemployment rate, raising it from 17.7 to 19% in the near term.

"If we turn it into numbers, there will be an additional 40,000 unemployed. The areas where unemployment will be significant are services, eateries and, to a small extent, construction. The army of seasonal workers who go to Russia will probably fill the ranks of our unemployed in a few months. In this regard, various tactical steps must be taken to have targeted programs for different stakeholders,” Udumyan said.

He said that as of April 1, there were 85,900 unemployed and job seekers registered in the government’s database.

Udumyan said that the ministry has drafted a job creation program that will compensate employers, up to 60% of monthly salaries, for each new person they hire. The compensation will be paid for four months.

The government is now reviewing the program.

According to the Deputy Minister, the program was originally intended for 500 beneficiaries, but it is likely that the number of beneficiaries will increase.

"The only condition is that beneficiaries must not be hired by the same employer they worked for before the state of emergency. This is done to avoid possible abuses,” he said.

The other program is for the expansion of public wages, as well as the expansion of forest maintenance.

"This is not only aimed at planting ten million trees, but also providing temporary employment for the residents of rural communities," Udumyan said.