More Job Seekers in Iraqi Kurdistan Finding Work Online

[Aslan]

SULAIMANI, Kurdistan Region – The Internet has been a boon to job seekers in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan Region, where the economy is booming and people looking for work are applying online -- even from overseas -- employment agencies say.

“I found a job advertisement on a website, emailed my CV, and got the job. The online process works great, and it is helping many people find new jobs,” said Jafar, a young resident in the Kurdish city of Sulaimani.

“Two years ago we struggled to post two or three jobs on our website. Now, we post 10 to 15 a day,” said Hadi Amin, manager of the Aweza Company, an online employment agency.

“We advertise up to 300 jobs monthly,” he added, underscoring the growing use of the Internet among both employers and job seekers. Amin said there was still room for tremendous growth, because so far less than 10 percent of the 2,000 companies in the Kurdistan Region advertise jobs through his agency website.

The number of foreign and local companies operating in the Kurdistan Region is continuously growing, creating more jobs, Amin said.

In the 15 months it was established, Aweza has placed 5,250 people in new jobs, Amin said, adding that the service was free to job seekers. He added that applications even arrive from overseas, from as far away as India or Pakistan.

Kurdistan Region officials note that before the enclave gained autonomy in 2003, many Kurds struggling for survival looked for work overseas, often as illegal workers. Now, they pleasantly watch the growing seeds of a reverse trend, as the buoyant economy and relative peace of the enclave lure foreign workers.

Nearly 10,000 foreigners are employed in Iraqi Kurdistan, according to official figures, which place the number of jobless Kurds at 65,000.