Tunisia: Insecure job market to be saved through reforms
President Kais Saied of Tunisia gas convened with his Minister of Social Affairs, Issam Lahmar, in order to discuss reforms to the labour code, as the country continues to suffer from job insecurity and economic uncertainty.
According to Tunisie Numerique on March 9th, the focus of the meeting in the Carthage Palace was on the subject of abolishing subcontracting and limiting the use of fixed-term contracts (CDD).
Saied said that the reforms would help the country to modernise its economy as he claimed that consecutive reforms dating back to 1996 have failed to do so.
Tunisia has suffered with high unemployment in recent years with young people being the worst affected by the insecure job market.
Drought and the Covid-19 pandemic have exacerbated the economic crisis in the country and, as reported by Maghrebi on February 29th, by the end of 2023 the country’s GDP had contracted by 0.2% leading to high inflation and high unemployment.
Despite his claims to the contrary, Saied has been criticised for his economic policies.
Hamza Meddeb told reporters that: “Since his power grab in 2021, the President has prioritised reshaping the political landscape to centralise authority rather than tackling economic problems.”
However, Saied has been adamant that these latest round of reforms will provide the country with the economic security it needs and insisted that far from these reforms being aimed at punishing employers, they are instead about the fact that; “an entrepreneur has the right to make legitimate profits, but workers must also receive fair wages and job stability.”
Key to his reforms is the abolishing of subcontracting which Saied claims is tantamount to slave labour.
The democratic integrity of Saied’s administration has been thrown in to question and the fact that he has insisted that these reforms be processed quickly through parliament may do little to dispel those thoughts.
Saied is calling for a “legislative revolution” and warned against legislation that could result in future regressions.
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