ANKARA

 Turkey’s Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu Wednesday announced labor reforms targeted at reducing the informal economy as well as boosting employment.

In a press conference held in Ankara, Davutoglu said the government aims to introduce new labor market regulations, supporting women's participation in the workforce and the measures targeting employment.

“We aim to make the labor market more effective and qualified, to increase employment and to enhance the productivity of our workforce with these reforms,” Davutoglu said.

“By 2018 we aim to boost women’s participation rate in the workforce by one point each year, to popularize flexible working and to increase the effectiveness of employment incentives,” he added.

Within the scope of these reforms, a new program will be launched to closely monitor workforce statistics to better direct people to sectors and regions where jobs are available. 

Also conditions for benefitting from unemployment insurance will be relaxed.

Davutoglu said that social aid will be distributed in a way which will encourage people to work and to practice a profession, and not to replace working.

“In this sense we will connect the social aid system and employment programs to use them as incentives to promote working rather than let people think, 'I already receive aid, and if I work I can’t receive this money.' This way of thinking leaves a considerable dynamic group out of labor market,” Davutoglu said.