AMMAN –
Economists and sociologists believe that the current economic situation threatens the safety
and security of the Jordanian society and that the government needs to find
proper solutions, and soon.
اضافة اعلان
The unemployment rate in
the country fell by 0.1 percent in the third quarter of 2021, compared to the
third quarter of 2020; it stood at 23.3 percent last year. Male unemployment
stood at 21 percent in 2021, having fallen by 1.2 percent over the year before,
while female unemployment fell by 2.1 percent, standing at 30.7 percent in 2021.
Unemployment among holders of high school diplomas and higher reached a
staggering 52.4 percent.
Economic analyst Mazen
Irsheid told
Jordan News that the government does not seem able to deal with
the unemployment rates and is taking too long to resolve this issue, even
though most economic sectors are completely opened following the
COVID-19 pandemic, as is international trade.
Officials have been
issuing statements about the need to coordinate with the private sector, yet, Irsheid
claims, the government has no clear plan to lower this high unemployment percentage.
According to Irsheid,
the Jordanian government sector is one of the biggest employers globally, with
a 40 percent employment rate. As such, the private sector should be more
involved in the hiring process, he said.
A solution Irsheid
proposed is for Jordanian banks, in collaboration with the
Central Bank, to allocate
a certain percentage of their deposits, which total JD37 billion, to provide
low-interest, long-term repayment loans to enable individuals to start small
projects.
One reason
unemployment is so high, said Irsheid, is Jordan's high labor costs, including
social security at 22 percent, “the highest in the region”, which negatively
impacts private sector hiring decisions. Yet another is the decline in foreign
investments.
"The government
should reconsider investment costs, such as social security and energy costs,
to attract foreign investors and reduce local unemployment," he said.
Economic writer
Salameh Al-Darawi told
Jordan News that the increase in unemployment
rates is to be expected because of the decline in economic growth (now standing
at 2.5 percent), the chronic budget deficit, and the country’s high level of
indebtedness, which drains large allocations, amounting to approximately JD1.6
billion or about 10 percent of the volume of expenditure, to pay debt
interests.
According to Darawi,
the government is unable to hire more people or create new job opportunities,
the private sector is suffering from high inflation, and the number of workers
is so large that the effect of creating new job opportunities is minimal.
At the same time, the
Gulf job market is no longer what it used to be, and travel to look for work
has decreased significantly as Gulf countries implement policies that
prioritize their citizens over people of other nationalities.
Darawi said that
165,000 people enter the
labor market every year, of which 88,000 have a
university degree. He explained that even when the economy was at its peak and
growth reached 7 percent, it was unable to provide more than 56,000 jobs
opportunities.
"Given the
current low rate of economic growth, it is easy to see the significant weakness
in the ability to create jobs," Darawi added.
The only solution, he
said, is to revise investment policies in order to generate higher growth
rates.
Investment should
acquire top-priority status, he emphasized, and the government should offer
incentives to investors by reviewing investment law and employment contracts to
ensure that local labor gets employed.
At the same time, the
government should work to remove the current obstacles and challenges impeding business
development. This may be accomplished if the government listens to and assists
the private sector in resolving administrative and financial problems, Darawi
said.
Professor of Sociology
Hussein Al-Khozahe told
Jordan News that the figures show an alarming
situation: unemployment among bachelor’s degree holders is very high – 79
percent among women and 26 percent among men – and women's economic
participation is only 13 percent.
According to Khozahe, the
first social repercussion of unemployment is loss of confidence in all
government institutions. Trust in political parties stands at 12 percent, in Parliament
at 15 percent, in trade unions at 40 percent, in the media at 40 percent, and in
the government at 67 percent, he said. These percentages, he said, are
reflected in the large percentage of people unwilling to participate in
political life.
Unemployment has
social ramifications as well, said Khozahe. The average marriage age for males
increased to 31 years, while it reached 27 years for females. It was also
reported that money is the root cause of 66 percent of crimes in Jordan,
including theft, bribery, check fraud, and inability to pay debts.
At the same time, unemployed
individuals can experience psychological diseases like depression, anxiety, and
suicide and increased domestic violence.
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