Belarus Labor Force
Harvesting grain on a farm
Courtesy Anatol Klashchuk
The private sector attracted a growing portion of the
labor
force in 1994, but cooperatives and the state sector
continued to
account for the bulk of official employment in Belarus.
The labor
force numbered 4.8 million persons in 1994, or 48 percent
of the
total population.
A principal reason for Belarus's low official
unemployment
rate in 1994 (2.2 percent by the end of that year) was
underemployment, which had been true during the Soviet era
as
well (thus keeping down the Soviet unemployment rate).
Rather
than lay off employees, enterprises often shortened work
hours,
reduced wages, and even forced employees to take leave
without
pay instead. Agreements signed by enterprises, labor
unions, and
the government in 1993 and 1994 called for avoiding
declines in
output and employment; in return for keeping the same
level of
employment, labor unions mainly refrained from industrial
disruptions. At a time when the cost of living was rising
dramatically, the social benefits provided by enterprises
also
acted as a disincentive for voluntary separations: a
low-paying
job that provided access to clinics, day care, and
inexpensive
housing was better than cash unemployment benefits alone.
Data as of June 1995
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