Call for Revising Recruitment Criteria at the Ministry of Energy; Removal of Key “Occupational Health” Majors Sparks Concern Among Specialists

The President of the Iranian Association of Occupational Health Specialists has issued an open letter to the Minister of Energy, urging an immediate review of hiring requirements for safety and occupational health positions in the ministry’s affiliated companies, warning that the recent removal of core academic disciplines from the 2025 recruitment guidelines threatens fair opportunities for qualified graduates.

According to ILNA, Hassan Asilian Mahabadi, President of the Iranian Association of Occupational Health Specialists, has addressed a formal letter to Ali-Akbar Ali-Abadi, Minister of Energy, calling for urgent corrections to the hiring criteria for safety and occupational health positions in the country’s electricity distribution companies and water and wastewater organizations.

Asilian emphasized in his letter that the 2025 recruitment booklet for water and wastewater companies has omitted key academic fields previously accepted for this position, including “Occupational Health Engineering and Safety” and “Occupational Health Engineering.” He noted that these fields had consistently been listed as qualifying disciplines in past recruitment cycles and argued that their removal undermines expertise-based hiring and deprives specialized graduates of fair competition.

He further pointed out that in the recruitment booklet for the second 2025 exam of the Ministry of Energy’s electricity companies, these two fields have been removed from the list of eligible bachelor’s degrees, despite still being accepted at the master’s and doctoral levels. According to Asilian, this inconsistency effectively prevents bachelor’s degree graduates in these specialized fields from applying.

In conclusion, the President of the Association requested that the Minister order an immediate revision of the recruitment booklets to reinstate the two omitted academic disciplines. He expressed hope that with the Minister’s attention, opportunities for young specialists will be preserved and the safety standards across the Ministry’s subsidiaries will be strengthened.