Armenia Logs Record Jobs in September and Approves Employment Programme

Armenia recorded a new high in registered jobs in September 2026, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan told the cabinet on 22 October, as the government approved an Employment Guarantee Program for the unemployed, people displaced from Karabakh and low-income families. The number of jobs rose by around 15,000 from August and by 39,751, or about 4.9%, from September 2025, Armenpress reported.

"Compared to September 2017, that is, the pre-revolutionary September, we currently have an increase of 311,480 jobs," Pashinyan said, according to the government's readout, citing the index of registered jobs compiled by the State Revenue Committee. Average wages were up 28,418 drams, or about 7%, on September 2025, ARKA reported; at the rate of 361.40 drams to the dollar that ARKA used, the rise is about $79 a month. ARKA also cited State Revenue Committee data for August, when there were 830,417 income-generating jobs, up 37,320, or 4.7%, on August 2025.

The new programme

The Employment Guarantee Program consolidates existing schemes for able-bodied members of families assessed as insecure, people discharged from compulsory military service and people displaced from Karabakh, the government said. ARKA set out the mechanics: a one-time electronic voucher of up to 250,000 drams for vocational training at licensed providers, to be used within six months; a partial refund to employers of the income tax paid on a hired participant's wages, 50% capped at 25,000 drams a month for the first three months and 100% capped at 50,000 drams a month for months four to six; and cash payments to the participant of 100,000 drams after three months in work and 200,000 drams after 12 months.

The programme will run through the e-work platform, start on 1 January 2027 and initially cover 1,500 people, with no additional state budget funding required, ARKA reported. Minister of Labor and Welfare Arsen Torosyan, as the government's readout styles him, said the aim was to improve "the targeting and effectiveness of these measures" by "consolidating the existing initiatives into a single, unified program", according to ARKA.

Growth and the EAEU question

Pashinyan put the jobs figures in a wider frame. GDP, on 2025 results, is up about 53% since 2018, he said, and he named relations within the Eurasian Economic Union as the visible challenge of the current period. "All our policies will be aimed at ensuring our economic dynamics and, of course, strengthening the sovereignty, independence and statehood of our state," he said, adding that the diversification of the country's economic ties "is also taking place quite well".

The jobs record sits on a strong year: economic activity rose 7.3% in January to August on a construction surge, and the budget posted a 67.3 billion dram surplus in the first half. On the TRIPP route, Pashinyan said ratification of the agreement with the United States began in the National Assembly on 21 October, with the formal vote due at the coming session, and that a working group led by Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigoryan travelled to Syunik the same day to prepare the start of design work on the infrastructure. The Constitutional Court cleared the framework earlier this month.

Why it matters

Registered jobs are a tax base as much as a labour statistic: the series comes from the State Revenue Committee, so each new job is an income-tax payer, which is why the government reports it monthly. The employment programme is small at launch, 1,500 people, but its design pays employers only when a certified trainee is kept on under a contract of at least three months, and pays the worker only after three and twelve months in the job, a test of whether training vouchers turn into lasting employment rather than certificates.

What to watch

• October jobs data at the next cabinet readout, and whether the monthly gain of around 15,000 holds.
• The National Assembly vote on ratifying the TRIPP agreement with the United States.
• The 1 January 2027 launch of the Employment Guarantee Program and its first voucher uptake.