The incredible success of unemployment benefits in Algeria
In February, Algeria introduced an unemployment benefit of RSD 13,000 for first-time jobseekers aged between 19 and 40 who are on the lists of the National Employment Agency Anem.
The decision to set up this allowance was taken by President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to combat unemployment, which is particularly affecting young people in Algeria given the economic crisis and the lack of job vacancies.
| Also read: Did Algeria do well to introduce unemployment benefits?
In order to finance this allowance, the state has reached into its pocket. In a Presidential Decree published in Official Gazette No. 52, a credit of 61,772,000,000 dinars ($435 million) was allocated to the Ministry of Labor in the form of a “contribution to the unemployment benefit system”.
The measure quickly bore fruit, as one million young unemployed have already benefited from this subsidy. The figure was quoted by President Tebboune in the editorial he signed in the last July issue of the National People’s Army magazine El Djeich.
Four million subscribers
According to the World Bank’s latest report on the Algerian economy, the success of unemployment benefits is impressive.
“The number of job seekers jumped by 64% in the first quarter of 2022,” writes the World Bank based on ANEM figures. She adds that “the increase in enrollments is more pronounced among unskilled or low-skilled workers (+84%) and among women (+63%). »
| Also read: A farmer’s heartfelt cry to President Tebboune
According to the World Bank report, as of April 18, “917,000 files would have been accepted for an estimated initial monthly cost of DZD12 billion (more than $80 million USD)”. The number of jobseekers registered at ANEM level in March 2022 reached more than “4 million or about 14.4% of the Algerian working-age population”.
While the number of people recorded on the Anem Lists during 1ah As of Q3 2022, job vacancies have “partially recovered” over the same period but remain “below pre-Covid-19 pandemic levels, according to the World Bank.
In Algeria, job vacancies fell in the fourth quarter of 2021 (-9.6%) before picking up again in the first months of 2022 (+4.5%), according to the World Bank, which is still based on Anem data.
In the first quarter of 2022, job vacancies in Algeria “remained 1.1% below the level of the first quarter of 2020, however, jobs in the domestic private sector have fully recovered, in contrast to those in the public sector (–2.9%) and those the foreign private sector (–12.5%).
“At the same time, the number of job seekers rose sharply in the fourth quarter of 2021, 54% above pre-pandemic levels,” the World Bank adds.
