ECONOMY

Date published: 3 July 2023 12:04

~ Modified On: 3 July 2023 15:33

5 min Read

Is Turkey's employment agency engaged in 'fictitious' employment?

Between 2014 and 2022, the number of individuals placed in jobs by İŞKUR exceeded the total population growth, employment growth, and the increase in "insured employment" in Turkey.

Sinan Ok

Is Turkey's employment agency engaged in 'fictitious' employment?

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Until 2003, the only institution in Turkey that facilitated employment and job placement on behalf of the public sector was the "Job and Employee Agency." However, with the enactment of the Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR) Law that year, previously illegal "private employment agencies" were legalized. Over the years, the İŞKUR Law, consisting of 35 articles, underwent numerous changes, gradually privatizing the concept of public employment and leaving it unregulated. The implementation of the National Employment Strategy, which aimed to produce cheap labor through precarious employment, has turned Turkey into a "labor hell" within a span of 10 years.

Upon examining the table below, it can be observed that there has been a higher increase in employment, particularly in "insured employment," compared to population growth in Turkey. From the year 2014, when the National Employment Strategy was implemented, until 2022, while the total population in Turkey increased by 10%, employment increased by 19%, and "insured employment" increased by 24%.

However, this seemingly positive trend reveals a grim reality when examining real wage growth, the share of wages in total income, and working conditions. It appears that in Turkey, "more people are forced to work longer hours for lower wages."

While the minimum wage in Turkey saw a 24% decrease in terms of US dollars between 2014 and 2022, considering the impact of inflation on the dollar, this decrease can be as high as 40%. The fact that the minimum wage in Turkey is close to the average wage is sufficient evidence of the severity of the situation. Furthermore, the halving of labor's share in national income highlights the extent of mass impoverishment during this period, and it should be carefully examined in terms of exacerbating gender disparities and existing regional inequalities.

The table above demonstrates how the AKP government has successfully implemented a neoliberal policy of impoverishment that is detrimental to labor. The final line of the table shows the number of job placements by İŞKUR. Accordingly, İŞKUR, which placed 700,000 people in jobs in 2014, appears to have almost doubled this figure by 2022. It is also known that in some years, this figure has exceeded 100%. Between 2014 and 2022, the number of individuals placed in jobs by İŞKUR exceeded the total population growth, employment growth, and the increase in "insured employment" in Turkey.

According to İŞKUR Statistical Yearbooks, it is claimed that during this period, İŞKUR provided employment for 9,732,000 individuals and offered vocational training, internships, and entrepreneurial opportunities to 3,619,000 people.

In recent days, two news reports have emerged—one revealing that "fictitious" employment was conducted through İŞKUR, leading to comprehensive detentions and investigations, and the other claiming that İŞKUR placed over half a million individuals in jobs within 2023. Using the famous "cat-liver metaphor," if İŞKUR is facilitating so many job placements, where is the increase in employment? If it is not doing so, how are these statistics calculated?

It is known that not all job placements in Turkey are made through İŞKUR, and İŞKUR's share in this field has been decreasing and is now below 30%. In a context where companies, individuals, online platforms, and private employment agencies also play a role in job placements and intermediation, shouldn't the total employment be higher?

How much quality control, registration, employment duration, compliance with vocational training given/received, and similar inspections/observations are carried out in İŞKUR's job placements, and why are the results not disclosed to the public?

We are aware that the unemployment fund, deducted from workers' premiums, is used to finance İŞKUR's activities. Therefore, it is necessary to prevent "fake employment and job placements" which means the misuse of this fund. There is evidence and allegations that activities such as job placements, internships, courses, and similar ones are carried out under false pretenses without the existence of workplaces, employees, or production, and these are presented to the public.

If the detention and ongoing investigation in Büyükçekmece, İstanbul, were conducted nationwide, it would reveal that these job placements either never happened or did not occur in the claimed rates/numbers.

In many places, it will be evident that existing businesses are used for "re-employment of current employees." Apart from duplicate employment, a serious inspection will reveal that shell companies benefit from İŞKUR and SGK incentives without engaging in any production. Moreover, it will be discovered that many enterprises established with incentives violate the obligation to pay the minimum wage, causing financial loss to the public.

In this environment where both İŞKUR and SGK exercise limited control authority, often failing to use it, the doors of this hell, where millions of workers are exploited, are kept wide open by "state power." People are forced to work under conditions that are detrimental to human dignity, with worsening and impoverishing circumstances, due to the looming threat of unemployment. (SO/VC/VK)

Origin

BIA News Desk

unemployment employment vk turkish employment agency

Sinan Ok

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İstihdam uzmanı, yazar. Gazi Üniversitesi Kamu Yönetimi Bölümü mezunu. Ankara Üniversitesi Kadın Çalışmaları Anabilim Dalı’nda “Erkeklik Krizi ve İşsizlik” bitirme teziyle yüksek lisans yaptı. TODAİE kapsamında “Devşirme Milliyetçilik: Yurttaşlığı Değiştirilen Sporcular” master tezi ve Ankara Üniversitesi Siyaset Anabilim Dalı’nda “Ulus, Devlet ve Din İlişkileri” doktora tezine devam ediyor. İŞKUR Genel Müdürlüğü’nde İstihdam Uzmanı olarak 11 yıl görev yaptı. 6 Ocak 2017 tarihli, 679 Sayılı OHAL KHK’si kapsamında "iş bulma kurumu tarafından işsiz bırakıldı.” KESK’e Bağlı Büro Emekçileri Sendikası (BES) işyeri temsilcisiydi.

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ECONOMY

Date published: 19 March 2025 11:46

~ Modified On: 19 March 2025 11:49

1 min Read

Turkish lira tumbles as İmamoğlu's detention shakes markets

Dollar, euro and gold saw historic highs against the lira.

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Following the detention of İstanbul Mayor Ekrem İmamoğlu and more than 100 others, the Turkish lira lost value against all major currencies, with the US dollar and euro reaching record highs.

For the first time, the US dollar surpassed 41 liras, peaking at 41.64, while the euro rose above 44 lira, hitting a record 44.88.

However, the lira later regained some ground, with the dollar falling to 38 lira and the euro dropping to 42 lira. Economists attribute this recovery to intervention by the Turkish Central Bank.

The currency turmoil also triggered a surge in gold prices, with the price of one gram of gold exceeding 4,000 liras for the first time in history.

After the Central Bank’s intervention, gold prices gradually declined, dropping below 3,800 liras per gram.

The Borsa İstanbul stock exchange's BIST 100 index opened the day with a 6.87% decline, starting at 10,060.48 points.

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ECONOMY

Date published: 14 March 2025 12:33

~ Modified On: 14 March 2025 12:58

2 min Read

'A hub of labor violations': İstanbul shipyard workers climb crane protesting unpaid wages

The workers highlight unlawful practices by employers, such as misreporting their wages as minimum wage and falsely classifying dismissed workers as "resigned." They claim the government turns a blidn eye to these violations.

Ali Dinç

TRTürkçesini Oku

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TRTürkçesini Oku

'A hub of labor violations': İstanbul shipyard workers climb crane protesting unpaid wages — Workers on the crane

Fourteen workers laid off from Kuzey Star Shipyard in İstanbul’s Tuzla district have been protesting since Mar 5 over unpaid wages and benefits. Four of the dismissed workers escalated their protest by climbing a tower crane at the shipyard yesterday, vowing not to come down until they receive their dues.

“We’re not just talking about having money in our pockets—our debts are piling up,” said İsa Balıkçı, one of the protesting workers. “When a person has to go home to their family with their head down, unable to look their children in the eye, they might as well be dead. That’s how we feel now.”

Balıkçı said that their struggle has left them with no other option. “We are in the middle of Ramadan, and the holiday is approaching. Forget about having money in our pockets; we’re drowning in debt. They have made us suffer like this for months," he said.

“We didn’t want to resort to this, but we had no other choice. Any father in Turkey would do anything for his children, and we were left with no alternative. This is our ninth day of protest. We kept going to the shipyard’s gates, but no one would listen to us. At one point, they made a promise, saying, ‘We’ll take care of it, we’re sorry.’ But we soon realized it was all lies. They deceived us.

“We won’t be fooled anymore. Now that we’re up here, we’re not coming down until we get what we’re owed. We can’t return to our children empty-handed. We refuse to sit at an empty table during Ramadan.”

Serkan Aksakal, another worker who climbed the crane, also described the protest as their last resort.

“We were laid off, and now we don’t even have money to buy a loaf of bread,” he said. “It’s not just us, our colleagues are in the same situation. On top of that, our rightful earnings were taken from us. We haven’t been paid our severance, our vacation pay, or our salaries. So we turned to our union for help.”

“There are four of us up here, and 12 more of our colleagues down below supporting us. Others have also come to show solidarity. We are here, and we are determined. We will not leave this crane until we get our money. No force can remove us from here unless we are paid.”

Months of unpaid wages

Kuzey Star Shipyard dismissed workers by claiming there was no more work available. However, the company had already failed to pay wages since December and has made new hirings since then, according to Aksakal.

“The claim that there’s no work is completely fabricated by the employers,” he said. “Whether there is work or not depends entirely on the subcontractor’s decision. For example, there is work inside the shipyard, but the subcontractor can automatically dismiss workers by claiming that the client hasn’t made a request. Over the past eight days of our protest, more than 500 new workers have been hired.”

“Unfortunately, no one seems to care about this. We work long hours under extremely difficult conditions,” he added. “We will not leave the shipyard until we receive what we are owed. My colleagues, our union, and I will stand our ground until we get our rights.”

Tuzla shipyards: A hub of labor violations

The dismissed workers are members of the Shipbuilding, Maritime Transportation, Warehousing, and Dockworkers Union (Limter-İş), affiliated with the Confederation of Progressive Trade Unions of Turkey (DİSK). Hakkı Demiral, general secretary of Limter-İş, highlighted the widespread labor rights violations in Tuzla’s shipyards, describing the area as a “lawless zone.”

“When people think of Tuzla’s shipyards, the first thing that comes to mind is the lack of regulations,” he said.

According to Demiral, 25,000 workers are employed in the area, with 24,000 of them working under subcontractors. “The real wages of 24,000 subcontracted workers are not properly declared for social security purposes. Their salaries are deliberately misreported under the watch of the government and labor inspectors."

“For instance, a worker earning 60,000 liras is officially recorded as earning only 20,000–22,000 liras, with social security contributions based on the lower amount. Part of the salary is deposited in the bank, while the rest is paid in cash. This system directly impacts workers’ severance pay, pensions, and other entitlements because compensation and retirement benefits are calculated based on declared wages.

“We are constantly fighting against this injustice, but the arbitrary practices of the subcontracting system have pushed workers to their limits."

'Authorities turn a blind eye'

Demiral also revealed that on the fourth day of their protest, workers received their official minimum-wage salaries via bank transfers. However, the remaining unpaid wages, which were previously given to them in cash, were only transferred on the seventh day from a different account.

He stated that union lawyers calculated the workers’ total dues and sent the figures to the company. However, the employer has refused to pay severance and notice compensations to prevent setting a precedent for other workers.

Claiming that the Labor Ministry is aware of these unlawful practices, Demiral said, “These payments made to workers' accounts are completely irregular. The money is disguised as ‘loan repayments’ or ‘cash advances’ when, in reality, it is their rightful salary. If the Ministry of Labor conducted a proper inspection and simply asked any worker on the street, ‘How much do you earn?’ they would get the truth. A worker would say, ‘I make 60,000 lira, but my social security is based on minimum wage.’

"This system is no secret. The government, the Labor Ministry, and the inspectors all see it, yet they turn a blind eye.”

Dsmissed workers labeled as 'resigned’

Limter-İş lawyer Önder Özgür said employers falsely report laid-off workers as having resigned in official records.

“In Turkey, it is the employer who submits the termination notice to the Social Security Institution (SGK). The worker has no say in it,” Özgür explained.

“The law gives employers a lot of freedom in this regard, so they can choose any termination code they want. However, if a worker files a lawsuit, this code can be changed. The same thing happened to the workers at Kuzey Star Shipyard. Even though none of them resigned, they were listed under ‘Code 03’, termination by the worker. This is a common practice in the shipyard industry.” (AD/VK)

Origin

Istanbul

all articles of the author

bianet muhabiri (Ağustos 2023). Atölye BİA 5-9 Ekim 2022 "Temel Gazetecilik Atölyesi" katılımcısı. Maltepe Üniversitesi Gazetecilik Bölümü'nü bitirdi. Aynı üniversitede, Siyaset Bilimi ve Uluslararası İlişkiler Bölümü'nde çift anadal yaptı. Halkevleri 12. Halkın Hakları Basın, Sanat ve Dayanışma Ödülleri sahibi.

Is Turkey's employment agency engaged in 'fictitious' employment?

Sinan Ok