Türkiye offers wage support, bans layoffs in earthquake aftermath

Turkish government have launched temporary wage support scheme and banned layoffs in ten cities on Wednesday to protect employees and businesses from financial impacts of the devastating earthquakes, according to Reuters.

Businesses whose workplaces have been extremely or moderately affected can benefit from the government’s support, in order to cover employee wages, with the cut in working hours, said Turkish official.

The country also announced a ban on layoffs in ten of the provinces hit by the earthquake that are covered by a state of emergency.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan requested the Turkish Parliament to impose the state of emergency for three months, and was effective on February 7.

The earthquake could cost Ankara almost $100 billion in housing and infrastructure rebuild, and have a one to two percent decline in economic growth this year, according to business groups and economists’ predictions.