Looking at the details, we see that growth stems from the manufacturing sector: There was an increase of 14.6 percent in the first five months of the year. The products that saw increased production the most can be listed as follows: Sneakers, minibuses, midi buses, sewing machines, washing machines, television sets, trucks, cord sheets, automobiles, ovens, videos, vacuum cleaners, buses and tin.
It was observed from the statistics announced recently that the economy grew 12.4 percent in the first three months of the year.
The figures related to production and growth are promising. It is not possible to see such a figure elsewhere in the world, except in a few countries. Examining the details, Turkey is growing with industrial manufacturing and an increase in efficiency, not with domestic debts as in the past. Moreover, it is a growth that depends on the private sector, not on the public sector. All these are good, but why does this growth not reflect on employment and thus bring down the unemployment rate?
Some circles, taking this question into consideration, claim the way things are going is not a healthy sign. Yes, there is still no noticeable increase in employment, but this does not mean that the growth is not healthy or that the figures do not reveal the facts.
We can categorize the reasons why there is no increase in employment in two groups: Firstly, it is not scientifically possible to form a relation between growth and employment all the time. We must accept the fact that Turkey is not an agrarian country. New technologies enter the business markets in the developing world every passing day. There are some sectors in which one new machine means 8-10 people becoming unemployed.
In May, when I was visiting the Isuzu facilities in Japan, the scarcity of workers and the loads of work left to machines, attracted my attention. According to what the authorities said, the number of workers has decreased from 33,000 to 18,000, but the production rate and profits surpass that of the previous year.
This is a domestic example: Many brokers who used to work and earn commissions as middlemen, became unemployed last year as the stock markets started to use the Internet. While transactions increased, the employment rate decreased.
Hence, that production has increased, whereas the employment rate has decreased, is not an odd.experience in our era. Secondly, Turkey experienced a serious economic crisis in 2001. Some workplaces were in a desperate state, they pulled down their rolling shutters, and had to lay off their workers.
Some companies on the other hand did not venture to take the risk, even though they could have overcome the hardship by keeping their workers. Their first preference was sacking the workers, instead of seeking other ways of.remedying the situation.
However, there were some companies that continued working at all costs, and considered laying off their workers as the last resort. They did not sack workers, who had served the company with great devotion, by saying 'the economic logic necessitates this.' The workers and trade unions in turn responded to this good gesture by making sacrifices.
There is one thing that should not be overlooked. The crisis taught businesses how to be efficient, even with a small number of workers. The personnel policy changed. You can still remember the trend, when employers and general managers of some holding companies used to have three to five secretaries or assistants. That came to an abrupt end with the crisis.
Now businesses that are recovering are gradually beginning to employ new staff. The businesses that did not lay off their workers, are functioning at full capacity, with the same old staff. In some businesses, the same staff work overtime day and night. No new worker is added, unless the capacity of the company so requires, or new facilities are established.
As a result, to expect the increase in employment to match the increase in production and growth rates in the economy would be an evaluation far from reality. The increase in employment will be realized with new enterprises and promising sectors. This is not something that will happen abruptly, but will come gradually. Because, we have to provide job opportunities and a means of livelihood for those who are currently unemployed, for those who will be unemployed in the future due to the emergence of new advanced technologies, and for the young labor force, that will also join them, as a result of the population growth...
July 13, 2004
Benzer Haberler 
