The population changes in the last two decades have lead to an increase in those ages 24 and under, as compared to the total population. In 1977, of the 33 million people within the country, 19 % , or nearly six million, four thousand people belonged to the youth age .In 1987, the youth age group composed 19% of the total population, which was around 49.5 million people; their number reaching around 9million and 400 thousand. With the increase in the number of people in this age group, in 1986 the population explosion within the age group of 15 -24 years of age lead to a sharp increase in the youth population by 20.5%, in proportion to the total population of the country. The youth population composed nearly one fifth of the total 60 million people of the country (or more than 12 million people) . During this period, whilst there was a rise in the total population of the country by around 78 %, the youth showed a 93% increase of the year 1977.
The largest percentage of growth was seen in the urban areas, which despite a low fertility rate, received large amounts of rural immigrants. Like wise, as a result of the expansion of the urban areas and transformation of some of the villages into towns, they were to hold larger populations, with the population of the youth age groups holding a larger share out of the total youth population of the country. This indicates that by the year 2006, the total population of the youth will reach up to 17.5 million people, equal to 25 % of the total population of the country. Of this population, by 2006, around 50.1% will compose the age groups of 20-24 years of age, and around 50% will comprise the age group of 15-19 years of age .
This report has endeavored to first examine the present opportunities, the challenges and the major problems on the way for employment, and the means for the youth to maintain sustainable living. It also offers an overall view about the present conditions, major concepts and issues related to the economy of the country. Generally speaking, the major economic and employment opportunities in Iran can be categorized into four main areas: 1- agriculture, 2-mines and industry, 3-services and 4-present opportunities in the ICT section. These four areas are under the direct control of the governmental system and only to a relative extent, the private sector. As for youth employment, since the ICT section requires educated forces, it holds the largest capacity for attracting the youth work force .The services section is the next area holding a large capacity for attracting the youth work force, since it does not require highly educated forces. Currently, the mines and industry and the agriculture sections are not being well received but with the present potentials and facilities they hold a very important position.
How ever, for many reasons young people are more attracted to the former three sections.
The National Youth Organization, a national entity related to the youth issues in Iran, has defined a youth as a person in an age group ranging from 14-29 years. The basic areas of economic activity for youth mainly involve information technology, communications and services: in the latter area young people are usually attracted to governmental and related job systems. This is highly significant in as far as the dominant culture for youth who are trying to find jobs and vocational opportunities is to endeavor to find governmental jobs in all the areas of services, technical, industry and agriculture, depicting the incumbency of the government over the economy. The biggest obstacle here is the overloading of the work force in this area, and the predominance of highly influential connections in place of a standard system for attracting a new work force.
In other areas, incompatibility between the needs of the job market and the skill based trainings for the youth as well as the weak functioning of the social services system in the non- governmental sectors are the most significant deterring factors against entry into the work force.
Nevertheless, It should be pointed out here that it is still important to move towards establishing micro - scale vocations by the youth themselves. Despite the fact that the majority of the youth seeking jobs and holding small work shops are from among the average to lower classes of the society, the most important problem is lack of basic capital for ensuring the formation of small jobs. In order to remove these problems and obstacles, the young work force has moved towards vocational training and technical skills, as well as receiving self employment loans.
In another section, certain factors such as nepotism and a poor social services system have caused efforts for alleviating these obstacles to yield unfavorable results.
In the employment system, a correct information flow is the foremost important circle connecting the elements of the system to each other, which plays an effective role in organizing and improving the employment development process.
The information system of the country has administered various systems for offering job opportunities. Based on the latest statistics and data presented by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, the following organizations have been helpful for offering facilities and providing the grounds for supporting job - creating plans:
The Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs
The Technical and Professional Training Organization
Job services centers
The General Office for the Vocational Development Abroad
The Welfare Organization
The Ministry of Cooperation
The Cooperative Fund
The Technical Cooperation Office of the Presidency
The Agriculture Bank
The Islamic Revolution Martyrs Foundation
The Collaboration organization for employment of the University Graduates
The Ministry of Mines and Industry
The Youth National Organization
Among these, perhaps we could refer to some institutions such as the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs and their affiliates, such as the vocational support funds and the job counseling centers as the major performers in this area. But the actual policies and programs of the government for the employment of the youth, which naturally play the most important role concerning employment, move around the following issues:
Short- term solutions:
Reducing long working hours and occupying more than one job; early retirement; foreseeing legal obligations and encouraging law; implementing large projects dependent on man power; and monitoring the allocated credits for job creations.
Average term solutions:
Technical and professional development training; dispatch of work force to foreign countries; foreign investment attractions; benefiting from the existing capacities in the production and services units; reducing the duration for operating unfinished investmen;t and identifying and promoting new vocations as needed .
Long term solutions:
Promotion of productivity; alleviating obstacles to promotion of investment; and production and development of the social security system.
Perhaps, a short glance at the issue of employment in the third socio-cultural and economic plan would help to clarify the above mentioned points more easily [annex 1].
Annex 1
-Removing and replacing all foreigners occupying jobs without work permits (article 48).
-Encouraging employers of the existing work shops to maintain their new work force through vocational services centers of the Ministry of labor and Social Affairs through discount on the insurance rate and reduction of the tax payment by the employers (article 49) .
-Granting facilities in the less developed areas for the purpose of job creation (article 50).
-Granting subsidies to the investors for the facilities of their interest in the private sectors and cooperatives for establishing private technical and professional institutes (article 51).
-To rationalize the electricity, telephone and water costs and to fit the rate of educational prices for the purpose of supporting production (article 52).
-Dispatch of work force to foreign countries (article 53).
-Offering facilities to the investors in the job creation plans and small scale industries through supporting a portion of the profit and work prices by the banking facilities system. (article 54)
-Granting facilities to agricultural and livestock’s plans, construction of buildings and housings and completing the industrial and mines plans in the non -governmental sectors (article 55).
-Granting interest -free loans for providing working instruments for those people who do not have the facility to provide their working apparatus, such as the jobless people living in the villages and the jobless women - headed households and the professional trainers in the technical and professional sectors (article 56).
-Training with the view to dealing with various small businesses which require small capital through different radio – television networks (article56).
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