About 10,300 persons under the age of 29 have been employed in 5,000 Macedonian companies as a result of the Government measure for one-year exemption from paying salary contributions.

"The intended goal has been achieved. Over 10,000 jobs mean a lot for Macedonian companies and young people. About 10,300 new jobs have opened over the past 20 months", Minister of Labor and Social Policy Dime Spasov told reporters on Tuesday.

He voiced belief that companies would continue to use the benefits at their disposal.

The measure, which runs through March 2016, exempts private companies from paying salary contributions for one year when employing persons under the age of 29, with the obligation to keep the person in the company for at least one more year.