Labor and Social Security Minister Vedat Işıkhan and Presidency's Communications Director Burhanettin Duran attended the signing of the protocol, along with İŞKUR General Director Samet Güneş and Press Advertisement Agency General Director Abdulkadir Çay.
The two-year protocol aims to train the qualified workforce needed by the media and communication sector through On-the-Job Training Programs, Vocational Training Courses, and Employee Vocational Training support.
Under the protocol, young people aspiring to a media career, communication faculty graduates, and citizens seeking employment in the sector will gain professional experience through practical training. Additionally, competency development programs will be organized for current employees to adapt to digital transformation and new media applications.
During the program, İŞKUR will pay participants the net minimum wage. İŞKUR will also cover general health insurance and work accident and occupational disease insurance premiums. For vocational training courses, instructor fees and trainees' compulsory expenses will be covered by the institution's budget.
Participants who successfully complete the training will be employed at the relevant press organizations for a period at least twice the length of the program. The protocol aims to reach 652 newspapers, 366 internet news sites, and 57 periodicals currently in the waiting process that publish official announcements across Turkey.
This aims to develop active labor force programs tailored to the sector's changing needs and to strengthen employment.
Mardin İŞKUR Provincial Director Mahmut Batur described the protocol as "an important step for training the qualified workforce the sector needs."
He said: "The press and media sector is one of the strategic sectors that constantly renews itself with technological developments and digitalization.
This cooperation protocol between İŞKUR and the Press Advertisement Agency is an important step in training the qualified workforce the sector needs. It is particularly important for our youth to gain professional experience through practical training, for citizens studying communication to enter employment more strongly, and for developing the professional competencies of current employees.
Batur stated that as the Mardin İŞKUR Provincial Directorate, they aim to ensure the most effective use of the supports provided under the protocol by collaborating with press and media organizations in the province. "With this protocol, on-the-job training programs for the press sector can be organized for up to 9 months," he said.
"We will apply positive discrimination to our press sector by making the employment period equal to the support period. We will resolutely continue our efforts to implement projects that bring our citizens into employment by closely monitoring the labor market's needs and to meet our employers' qualified personnel requirements."
