Abdurrahman Kaan, President of the Independent Industrialists and Businessmen Association (MÜSİAD), issued a written statement regarding the employment losses likely to occur due to the Coronavirus (Covid-19) outbreak.
Kaan noted the following in his statement:
In order to minimize the social, societal and economic effects in our country of the Covid-19 pandemic that has taken the world under its influence, our state officials and state institutions, above all our President Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, are making an extraordinary effort.
As Türkiye’s most widespread and most powerful capital platform on a global scale, we are at work with our more than 11,000 members and nearly 60,000 enterprises in order to provide our state with the highest level of support at this point. One of the greatest points of concern for Türkiye regarding this pandemic, whose effects on the world economy are inevitable in the short and long term and which is expected to create a new world order, is the employment loss likely to emerge in parallel with the loss of business by enterprises. Since the day we were founded, as a structure that prioritizes not only making money but the interests of our country and the welfare of our people, we call on our members and our business world to maintain employment, declaring that we will do everything in our power to prevent any negative development at this point in our enterprises operating under the MÜSİAD roof and that no employment loss will therefore be experienced within our organization.
In this context, we believe that the deferral of withholding tax and VAT together with SGK premiums provided to our employers within the scope of the “Economic Stability Shield” package, the minimum wage support that will reach a total of TRY 7 billion, flexible working conditions and the other facilities provided regarding compensatory working time will be effective in preserving the current employment rate. As in the past Employment Mobilization practices, we have full confidence that all our employers will put their shoulder to the wheel in order to protect employment and thus enable our national economy to emerge from this process with the least damage. With this spirit of unity and solidarity, we hope that the unemployment rate, which stood at %13.7 as of the end of 2019, will converge towards the %11.8 targeted under the NEP as of the end of 2020.
On this occasion, we call on the leading representatives of our business world to prevent employment losses; and we consider it a duty to thank our President Mr. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, who with his unifying attitude has enabled our nation to act as a single body in this process, our Minister of Health Mr. Dr. Fahrettin Koca first and foremost, who has managed the process with great maturity and professionalism, our Minister of Treasury and Finance Mr. Berat Albayrak, our Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu, our Minister of Trade Ruhsar Pekcan and all our ministries.