Outgoing Labour Minister Yiannis Panayiotou caused upset among social partners by citing a specific revised minimum wage figure during the ministry handover ceremony whilst consultations through the National Minimum Wage Review Committee remain ongoing.
During yesterday’s handover ceremony, Panayiotou referred to a specific number where the minimum wage could end up, noting that “58.5% of the 2024 median wage means an increase that brings the minimum wage to approximately €1,100, which, when COLA is added following the agreement linking the adjustment with the minimum wage, will reach €1,125″.
The reference prompted an immediate reaction from OEV Director General Michalis Antoniou, who stressed that only yesterday were the Committee members’ positions forwarded to the chairman.
The chairman will study them and then submit his recommendation to the Labour Advisory Board and the Labour Minister, who will transfer it to the Council of Ministers, Antoniou said. Therefore, any decisions should not be pre-empted, he added.
Stelios Cheimonas took up his duties as the new Director General of the Labour Ministry.
During the handover ceremony, new Labour Minister Marinos Mousiouttas focused on pension reform, the minimum wage and the sustainability of the Social Insurance Fund as priorities.
The new minister said he will focus on pension reform, minimum wage review, improving citizen service, improving the social insurance system and Social Insurance Fund sustainability, tackling illegal and undeclared work, and many other issues to improve the quality of life for every Cypriot worker and pensioner.
Mousiouttas added he is aware the baton he received is not simply symbolic. “It is a responsibility towards every worker, as I mentioned previously, and every pensioner,” the new minister stressed.
“The challenges are ahead of us and the goals are clear. Goals don’t change when people change,” he noted.
Outgoing minister Panayiotou expressed satisfaction “for the significant results we achieved for attaining the goals we set and continuing the path we charted”.
“We shaped conditions of full employment for the first time after many decades and responded to staffing needs, focusing on domestic human resources and workers from abroad,” Panayiotou said. “We substantially improved the labour market and contributed decisively to upgrading the economy”.
He added the ministry created conditions for improving citizens’ welfare through strengthening wage adequacy for fairer distribution of the development dividend and national income for empowering the middle class and supporting low incomes.
Panayiotou expressed satisfaction for the ministry’s work over the past three years, saying the employment rate increased above 80%, achieving in 2025 a target set for 2030.
The unemployment rate fell below 5%, the lowest percentage since 2008, he said. “We received unemployment at 6.6% and hand it over at 4.1%. We received youth unemployment at 16.1% and hand it over at 13.1%. According to Eurostat, we moved from 19th place to 10th,” he said.
“We received the average wage at €2,202, and it is estimated that in 2025 it will rise to €2,560. We received the median wage almost at €1,500, and it is estimated that in 2025 it will reach €2,000,” Panayiotou said.
“We increased minimum wages for 19 professions in the hotel industry by 10.66% and increased the national minimum wage from €940 to €1,000, adopting as a reference point 58.5% of the previous year’s median wage and remaining consistent to this path,” he noted.
Sources from the social partners told Phileleftheros that with his move, Panayiotou in some way commits the government to move at this level.
If a smaller amount ultimately emerges, some will find the opportunity to criticise government policy, saying the former Labour Minister mentioned a specific number that could be given whilst the government ultimately ended up with a smaller number, sources said.
There is an institutionalised procedure followed for this issue, and we shouldn’t bypass it, sources said.
Beyond customary congratulatory contacts, there has not yet been any other conversation between the new minister and the social partners, sources said. It will take a few days for the relevant briefing, then the procedure is expected to continue from where it stopped.