AMMAN —
Jordan Labor Watch of Phenix for Economic and Informatics Studies, in cooperation
with the German Friedrich Ebert Foundation, published a report which showed
that a large number of employees in the first, second, and third occupational
categories in most public sector institutions are employed in other jobs
besides their government job, due to low salaries, Amman Net reported.
اضافة اعلان
The report said
the repercussions of this phenomenon, most notably is the increasing
unemployment rate, the failure of employment programs and the creation of new
jobs, as well as the deepening of workers’ poverty due to steady wages as
inflation increases, and the expansion of the informal employment sector.
According to the
report, the phenomenon is mostly concentrated in the
Ministries of Education and Health, as well as in municipalities.
The majority of workers
in the first, second, and third categories in many public sector institutions
receive low basic salaries, little annual increases and allowances. Their
income fails to cover their living needs, especially those who support
families.
It also pointed to
hikes in the prices of most commodities, such as oil derivatives, and the
prices of various food and basic commodities.
The report showed
that the monthly cost-of-living allowance for public sector employees in
categories one, two, and three amount to JD135.
It showed that the
figure did not increase for 10 years, with the last pay raise being in 2012,
despite Jordan’s high inflation rates in the last decade, which reached nearly
31 percent.
The report
cautioned against the repercussions of the phenomenon in several aspects,
notably the increase in unemployment rates, because other jobs occupied by
employees in the public sector, as well as pensioners, are assumed to belong to
new graduates and the unemployed, and not to those already employed.
The low-wage
levels in the public sector will increase and deepen the number of poor
workers, according to the report.
Another report by
the
Social Security Corporation for 2021 said 56 percent of the workers
registered with the corporation obtain monthly salaries of JD500 or less. It
said the level of wages is very low, compared to Jordan’s poverty line levels.
Figures from the
Department of General Statistics for 2017 and 2018 showed that JD1,200 is the
annual per capita income of people living in absolute poverty.
The labor watch
report provided a number of recommendations, such as reconsidering public
sector wage levels towards raising them, which can provide a decent standard of
living for workers and their families, and put an end to the growing phenomenon
of government employees’ working other jobs, contributing significantly to
handing over jobs to others in the labor market.
The report also
recommended that salaries, wages, and annual increases and allowances, in
particular the cost-of-living allowance, should be linked to inflation rates,
and that the mechanism for calculating years of experience should be regulated
in accordance with basic salaries, annual increases, and additional allowances.
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