The labour ministry aims to create an open platform where employers can identify suitable candidates from the pool of unemployed individuals, Labour Minister Zeta Emilianidou told the House Watchdog committee on Tuesday.

“The goal is to create an open platform where employers can freely find available individuals from a list of all registered unemployed, based on their qualifications and experience,” she said.

Asked whether a timeline has been set, Emilianidou said the effort is to have the platform up and running by the end of 2016.

The new system would replace the current one, where employers ask the unemployment office to suggest suitable candidates.

However, Emilianidou cautioned, oversight of terms of employment will remain with the ministry, because “it is key to the safeguarding of employees’ rights”.

The new system would cut out the middleman – the government – and employers would be granted access to the electronic platform.

But unemployed people would not be listed into the database unless they consent, since their personal data would be freely available, the Labour minister said.