Unemployment and Its Relation to Iran’s Recent Protests and Uprising

NCRI Staff

NCRI - At its starting point, Iran’s recent uprising kicked off on December 28, 2017, with such slogans like ‘Death to high prices’ and ‘Death to unemployment’ and quickly turned into “Death to the Dictator and Death to Khamenei” and the request for “ Regime Change” as the one and only solution to all the problems.

Concerning the economic aspect of the protests it is notable that the dimensions and depth of the country’s unemployment has grown so much that there are lots of graduates who despite their high level of expertise are involved in such irrelevant jobs like laboring and working as an errand boy in shops, which is even more astonishing -- and of course more heart-rending -- than the country’s unemployment problem itself.

In this regard, a new report on unemployment, its dimensions and different types was recently aired on state TV that is worth mentioning here.

In the report, the TV presenter interviews workers who despite holding bachelor’s or doctorate degrees -- and in some cases even with national and international scientific Olympiad medals under their belt -- have to work as construction workers, guards or doormen as there’s no job relevant to their fields of study and they know no one to pull some strings for them, either.

300 applicants with university degrees responded to a state TV employment ad. The report airs phone conversations with some of the applicants as well as an in-person interview with a young, male job seeker. In the interview, the young applicant is informed that he can only be offered a dish-washing job, and is asked if he’s willing to take that job. After a little bit of hesitation, the young man with a Master’s degree gives a positive answer. He even doesn’t hold back when he finds out that he’s been filmed. Instead, he first protests a little and then asks the correspondent if he can arrange his employment somewhere.

“I’ve taken part in entrance exams of ministries, embassies, and state broadcasting organization, but I couldn’t get hired since I knew no one to pull some strings for me”, says the young applicant. The correspondent then agrees with the applicant’s request.

https://ncr-iran.org/en/news/iran-protests/24295-unemployment-and-its-relation-to-iran-s-recent-protests-and-uprising