AMMAN — Nearly 4,000 restaurants went out of business
in the past two years, and the sector is expected to face another wave of
closures, said Omar Al-Awwad, president of the Jordan Union of Restaurants and
Confectionery Proprietors.
اضافة اعلان
“This is due to the
fact that the Ministry of Labor prohibited the sector from bringing in
expatriate workers, and has not provided an alternative source of labor,” Awwad
told
Jordan News.
He explained that
expatriate workers already in the Kingdom have been asking for higher wages,
which is an added burden to restaurant owners. He said that the cost of
importing foreign labor is also expensive, estimated at JD2,500, which is
coupled with social security enrollment fees and labor permit expenses.
He said he expected
that a “large number” of restaurants are on the verge of going out of business
because their owners are unable to bear the “unprecedentedly high” operating
costs.
He stressed that
local labor is an inappropriate option because
it is not qualified to work in restaurants.
Restaurant owner
Abu Ameer told
Jordan News that he plans to close shop after eight years
of being in the business because of the high operating costs, and the lack of
expatriate workers.
“I tried to employ
local workers, but they could not do the job appropriately,” he said. “This receding
quality of service reflected negatively on my business, leading to a drop in
the number of customers, and ultimately a shrinking profit.”
“Sometimes, we feel
that the Ministry of Labor is working against us by prohibiting us from
sponsoring expatriate workers,” he proclaimed.
“But in light of a
shortage of workers, our condition has worsened,” he said.
The Ministry of
Labor said in a written reply to an inquiry by
Jordan News that a freeze
on importing foreign worker, which went into effect in early June, was meant to
have Jordanians replace foreign workers, easing a soaring unemployment in the
domestic workforce.
“The recruitment of
expatriate workers was suspended for the purpose of replacing them with
Jordanian workers,” the ministry said.
It said prior to
the decision, 55 percent of restaurant workers nationwide were non-Jordanians,
with the remainder being domestic laborers.
But following the
implementation of the decision, the percentage of Jordanian restaurant workers
climbed to 65 percent, up from 45 percent, while the number of foreign workers
fell to 35 percent, the ministry noted.
“The Ministry of
Labor allows the recruitment of skilled non-Jordanian workers in specialized
professions, according to regulations in force,” the ministry pointed out.
It said that Jordanian workers are being trained in
professions related to the restaurant sector by specialists from the private
sector and the Vocational Training Corporation, to gradually replace the
expatriate workers, and ultimately reduce the number of foreign workers in the
sector.
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