National Statistical Committee: 50% of Belarus’ workers employed in high-tech and knowledge-intensive industries

Half of the Belarusian workers are employed in high-tech and knowledge-intensive industries – as noted by Chairperson of the National Statistical Committee of Belarus (Belstat) Inna Medvedeva in her talk with the First News TV Channel, sb.by reports

The head of the agency emphasised that as technologies changed and innovations were introduced in production, the requirements for workers also changed.

“Whereas in the early 1990s it was quite hard physical labour – this work was performed by almost 75 percent of employees – today 50 percent of our employees are engaged in high-tech and knowledge-intensive industries. Naturally, taking into account the ongoing transformation, approaches to the educational level and qualifications of personnel have changed. Today one in three employee has a university degree. The actual unemployment rate today is 3 percent – one of the lowest both in the post-Soviet space and in the world.”

“This shows that today our labour market provides everyone with the opportunity to find a job. The most interesting thing is that in the early 1990s, every second unemployed person was a young man under the age of 29. There is absolutely no such problem today. All the opportunities presented by the state allow a person to develop,” Ms. Medvedeva added.