New incentives to hire unemployed in Cyprus

The Council of Ministers has approved a new two-year incentive scheme aimed at rehiring unemployed people, with the rate of those out of work in Cyprus already reaching a phenomenal 18%.
The new scheme, following earlier programmes that focused only on unemployed university graduates, aims to help businesses re-hire 1,000 people and has allocated a fund of 5 mln euros until June 2016.
The incentive for employers is a 50% refund on wages which must not exceed 5,000 euros or a 60% refund for special interest groups. The grant will be paid back to employers for ten months, as long as the employee stays on for a further two months on full pay.
Applicants must have enrolled with the Public Employment Service (DYA) for over six months to be eligible for the grant.