YEREVAN, MAY 1, NOYAN TAPAN. The structure of the population's employment in any country depends on the economic structure of the given country but in Armenia the employment and economic policies are not in keeping with each other, economist Edward Aghajanov expressed an opinion at the May 1 press conference. According to him, the intention of the Armenian authorities to create a knowledge-based - innovation economy should result in a change of the structure of employment and labor in the country: the appropriate specialists are needed for the country's innovation economic development. "Is there a speciality, is there a higher educational institution in Armenia that prepares personnel for 21st century's economy?" he asked. In his words, the problem of obsolescence of knowledge currently exists in the world. "The world is developing rapidly, with knowledge becoing obsolescent in parallel with this," he remarked. In this respect, 45-55-year-olds have difficulty in finding a job. E. Aghajanov said that the most successful solution to the problem was found in the U.S. where a postgraduate education system was introduced, which allows persons of the indicated age group to "refresh their knowledge". No policy in this direction is conducted in Armenia. Besides, according to E. Aghajanov, there is a problem of legalization of jobs and salaries in Armenia. "Our country is unique in that 85 workers keep 100 pensioners, and this happens in the case when a very low level of unemployment as compared with other countries - 7.1% is registered here," he said, adding that problem is in hidden salaries and workers. He pointed out that in Armenia jobs are created only through small business. As for the minimum consumer basket, E. Aghajanov said that according to official statistics, the average monthly salary makes 76,992 drams (about 250 USD) in Armenia, which cannot ensure the minimum consumer basket. Thus, in his words, a working man may also be poor.

---