The decision, announced by Labour Minister Zeta Emilianidou, will see the Labour Ministry and hoteliers sharing the cost of employees’ wages.

Emilianidou said that hotel employees now on unemployment benefit can work at hotels that were closed or had suspended operations last winter.

The employees will continue to receive their unemployment benefits and hoteliers will cover the remainder of their wages, she said. A similar scheme was implemented last year but with little success because most hotels were closed, she said.

“This time the Labour Ministry and the Council of Ministers have helped them to stay open through the extension of the tourist season,” she said.

Emilianidou added that Cyprus had registered its sixth consecutive monthly drop in the number of jobless individuals, but a lot still needed to be done to create new jobs.

Source: InCyprus