IV. Employment Promotion Programs
These programs generate employment by providing jobs in social welfare projects (PROAS, PRENO or PROEDIS) or through the granting of incentives to the private sector (PEP or PROCRED). The dissemination of these programs includes the training of promoters.
IV.1 Solidarity Assistance Program (PROAS)
This is a job training program for small-scale projects, mainly carried out at the municipal level. Among others they include water supply systems, sanitation work, construction of affordable housing, market gardens and other activities in the area of community support .
The program is intended for the long-term unemployed and low skilled heads of household, regardless of sex or age. The training period will be between three and 12 months. Beneficiaries will receive monthly financial assistance of $200, health coverage and occupational accident insurance.
Provinces in the north of Argentina and those recording a high percentage of critical cases in their population will be assigned priority: Salta, Chaco, Misiones, Tucumán, Formosa, Jujuy, Santiago del Estero, Corrientes, Catamarca, Santa Fe, San Juan, La Rioja and Bahía Blanca (Province of Buenos Aires).
The distribution of resources will take into account the combination of various indicators such as the incidence of basic unsatisfied needs in the population, as well as the rates of unemployment, infant mortality and primary school desertion.
In 1995 the program will train 38,000 beneficiaries with an investment of $83.2 million financed as follows: $39.6 million by the National Employment Fund, $37.5 million by the Social Development Secretariat and $6.1 million by the provincial governments.
IV.2. Occupational Training Program (PRENO)
This program will be implemented in the remaining provinces and differs from the previous program in the following aspects:
IV.3 Program of Employment in the Social Interest
This program consists of social or community work channelled through non-profitmaking non-governmental agencies by means of and agreement signed with the Ministry of Labor and Social Security. The target population is unemployed workers registered with the public and private sector services belonging to the National Employment Service network who fulfill any of the following conditions: their qualifications are for obsolete or are for soon to be extinguished occupations, are aged over 45, or are long-term unemployed.
The target of this program for 1995 is the creation of 2,500 jobs, for which an amount of $9.6 million will be allocated by the National Employment Fund.
IV.4 Private Employment Program for Small and Medium-sized Business
The purpose of this program is to encourage the hiring of workers by the private sector, including professional on-the-job training. It is intended for workers of either sex without age limit, with or without any previous training, unemployed and registered with the National Employment Service network. Wages will be in the form of financial assistance of up to $350 per month.
The program will be financed jointly with the provinces that sign the agreement. The National Employment Fund will contribute $ 31.5 million.
In 1995 the project will help to create approximately 30,000 jobs with a duration of approximately four to twelve months and with an incentive payment from the National Employment Fund for one to three months, depending on the terms of the contract. A further month will be added if the beneficiary is collecting unemployment insurance and still has at least six months of benefits.
IV.5 Credit Assistance Program for Employers
This program consists in the encouragement of hiring in the private sector through a preferential rate on loans. Plans call for interest rate subsidies on 20,000 loans during 1995, generating the same number of jobs. A total of $ 10 million has been allocated to the program.
IV.6 National Promotion Agent Program
This program proposes to train promotion agents who will visit potential employers to inform them of the advantages of the programs offered by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security to encourage the hiring of new employees.
The promoters will also provide information on the hiring mechanisms available and those under the upcoming labor reform, tax benefits, the activities of the Public Placement Agencies and the possibility of financing for the professional training of employees for new roles or retraining for restructuring.
The training of 400 promoters will begin in 1995. A total of 48,000 employers would be contacted each month