Over 75,000 people will keep their jobs under the 60/40 measure in January and February

MTSP: Support for businesses under the 60/40 measure continues in 2022, and for the time being, its effect has been extended until the end of February. The expectations are to keep the jobs of over 75,000 workers and employees on average per month, for which about BGN 120 million will be needed.

This was stated by the Minister of Labor and Social Policy, Georgi Gyokov, in response to a question during today's parliamentary scrutiny.

He explained that after the end of February, "taking into account the epidemic situation in the country and the adoption of the state budget and the state social security budget for 2022, the effect of the measure will be extended in accordance with the effect of the Temporary Framework of the European Commission for State Aid ".

"The reserved jobs under the 60 by 40 measure for the period January 1 - June 30, 2021 are 207,407, and the funds paid are BGN 723.4 million," said Minister Gyokov. He pointed out that according to a change in the measure, which came into effect on June 1, companies whose sales revenue decreased by 40% receive support from the state in the amount of 60% from the insurance income of workers and from the insurance contributions payable by employers. Companies whose turnover has decreased with 30% can receive funds in the amount of 50 percent of the insurance income and the due insurance contributions at the expense of the employer.

During the period July 1 - December 31, 2021, 150,926 jobs were preserved, with the funds spent being BGN 324.7 million. Calculations show that approximately 55% less funds were paid out for the period, and the reduction in the number of preserved jobs is with 27%. He emphasized that the introduced change in the measure improves its efficiency.

"The changes are due to the easing of anti-epidemic measures, the recovery of the economic activity of companies and the reduction of the share of enterprises with lower revenues compared to the previous month, according to the business studies of the National Statistical Institute. At the same time, an increase in employment was reported on a quarterly basis in the second and third quarters of 2021 and a decrease in registered unemployment on a monthly basis from February 2021 and on an annual basis from March 2021," said Minister Georgi Gyokov.

He cited data from the Employment Agency as of January 10, which showed that 162,895 people were registered as unemployed and the registered unemployment rate was 4.96%. For comparison, on the same date in 2021, 229,925 unemployed were registered in the labor offices. On an annual basis, the unemployed decreased by 67,030 persons or by 29.2%.