Employees of Cuban emerging enterprises increase

The number of workers hired by emerging private enterprises in Cuba increased by 7,417 to 99,395 people from March to July in 2014, the country's Ministry of Labor and Social Security said here Wednesday.

The ministry added that the number of people employed in the private sector reached 471,085 at the end of July.

Most of these small enterprises are involved in the production and sales of foods, as well as cargo or passenger transportation, said the ministry.

Job opportunities from private sector are attractive, especially to young people whose working life has just begun, because they could earn more than in state-run businesses and are usually paid in convertible pesos (CUC), a currency circulating in the country equivalent to nearly one U.S. dollar or 25 Cuban pesos (CUP).

R. Rodriguez, an engineer working as a doorman for Razones, a popular private restaurant opened two years ago, told Xinhua that now his wages for two days are as much as what he earned in a month in a state-owned company.

Cuban leader Raul Castro launched the reform of private sector in October 2010, which includes the gradual dismissing of about half million workers from the bloated public sector and reorganizing the workforce for better use.

Castro has called on government officials to "change mentality" on private workers. The leader said that "self-employed" force is helpful to provide goods and services for the people and is a source of tax revenue to fund the national budget.