History
Public employment agencies began to emerge in developed countries in the late 19th century as non-profit public organisations aimed at addressing the socio-economic problems caused by unemployment that arose with the Industrial Revolution.
The first studies on labour relations in our country began in the pre-Republican period, and considering these studies, a draft of the Public Labour Law was prepared in 1924 and submitted to the Turkish Grand National Assembly in 1924. Subsequently, following its examination by parliamentary committees, the draft was referred to as the Ottoman Code of Labour Law.
The first legal regulation concerning public employment services in our country is the Labour Law No. 3008 dated 1936. With this Law, labour relations were comprehensively regulated for the first time in our country, and it was ensured that the service of finding jobs for workers and finding workers for jobs (job placement) would be provided as a public service under the state monopoly. “The Labour Department” which would make preliminary preparations for the establishment of “Job Placement Organisation” began its activities as of 15 June 1936, when the Law had come into effect. Enis Behiç KORYÜREK was appointed as the first Director General of the Labour Department. The Labour Department, operating under the Ministry of Economy, undertook initial activities in a wide range of areas such as worker complaints, collecting statistical information on the labour market, state insurance and conducting relations with international employment agencies as well as providing services of finding jobs for workers and finding workers for jobs. The department both continued its organizational activities and services to be provided by the "Job Placement Organization" between 1936 and 1939. On 1 June 1939, it was merged with the "Regional Economic Directorate" under the Ministry of Economy and continued to operate in this way. Accordingly, Job Placement Agency was established by Law No. 4837 in 1946. The relevant law defined the Agency's task as "finding appropriate jobs for workers compatible with their qualifications and finding workers with compatible qualifications for employers" that is, acting as an intermediary agency for finding jobs and workers.
In the 1960s, a significant part of the Agency's workload was the overseas job placement services provided to meet the labour demands of industrialised countries. With the Unemployment Insurance Law No. 4447, which came into force in 1999, Job Placement Agency was authorized to provide all services and implement procedures other than the collection of unemployment insurance premiums, and thus a period of significant changes started within the Agency.
The transformation of public employment agencies from their traditional roles to institutions that shape the labour market and the harmonization process with the European Union necessitated restructuring for the institution. Accordingly, Job Placement Agency was transformed to Turkish Employment Agency (İŞKUR) by Law No. 4904 on 5 July 2003. In order to retain employment and combat unemployment, regulations were introduced through Laws Nos. 5763, 5838 and 5921. Furthermore, by Decree-Law No. 665, Regional Labour Directorates were closed and their duties were transferred to the Agency.
İŞKUR was elected to the presidency of the World Association of Public Employment Services (WAPES) in 2015, continuing its national successes at the international level.
Following the transition to the Presidential Government System, Decree-Law No. 703 changed the name of Law No. 4904 to ‘Law on Certain Regulations Concerning the Turkish Employment Agency’. Further amendments related to the structure of the Agency were made by the Articles 615-629 of the Presidential Decree No. 4, published on 15 July 2018.
During the pandemic that affected the entire world in 2020 and the subsequent recovery period, İŞKUR supported millions of employees, employers and unemployed people in order to retain and increase employment, thereby mitigating the negative effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on employment.
Following the earthquakes centred in Kahramanmaraş in 2023, İŞKUR acted rapidly since the first days of the disaster, implementing comprehensive support programmes and special measures to compensate for employment losses in the region, restructure working life and rapidly reintegrate citizens into the production process.
İŞKUR has systematically strengthened its information technology infrastructure to make its service processes more efficient, faster, and more accessible. The interaction between job seekers and employers has been transferred to the digital environment thanks to online services, mobile application, virtual job fairs and artificial intelligence-based matching systems developed within this scope. The Agency has adopted technology as a complementary element supporting its counselling activities on site, while maintaining its people-centred service approach.
The Agency, as the relevant body of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, which was restructured by the Presidential Decree No. 73 dated 21 April 2021, continues its activities as the fundamental public institution that synchronously carries out active and passive policies for retaining employment and reducing unemployment, integrates disadvantaged groups into the labour market, and brings together Türkiye's production capacity and human resources. Through its flexible structure and strong institutional capacity that adapts to changing economic conditions, the Agency continues to make a strategic contribution to the sustainability of the labour market.