More specifically, in the initial version of the 2026 budget draft, 113.3 million GEL was allocated for the “Employment System Reform Program,” while in the final revised draft this amount is reduced to 21.613 million GEL, which essentially means that the program will not continue next year.
The state program for employing socially vulnerable individuals in public works will no longer continue. In the third revised version of the 2026 budget draft, the budget for the “Employment System Reform Program” is reduced by 91.192 million GEL compared to the initial (as well as the second revised) version.
“Within the framework of this program, the previous version of the project included relevant allocations to support employment in public works. This subprogram completed its planned 4-year cycle this year, as initially intended.
At the same time, alongside the high economic growth of recent years, a labor shortage has been recorded in the job market. Accordingly, it was considered reasonable not to continue the program in its current structure in the coming period, and instead to support its beneficiaries through various retraining programs aimed at employment in the private sector,” — states the explanatory note of the third revised version of the 2026 budget draft.
