One of the most underestimated contributors to the domestic
GDP of several Arab countries is migrant workers, also called expatriate
workers. Arab governments should pay close attention to this strategic source
of foreign capital. There were an estimated 169 million international migrant
workers in the world, according to the International Labor Organization (ILO)
in 2019, constituting 4.9 percent of the global labor force in the destination
countries.
اضافة اعلان
According to one study by Mckinsey Global Institute,
migrants contributed roughly $6.7 trillion, or 9.4 percent, to global GDP in
2015 — some $3 trillion more than they would have produced in their countries.
While Arab countries like Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon,
Morocco, and Tunisia export migrant workers mainly to the GCC and EU countries,
they also host migrant workers, making them mixed migration countries.
According to the Wilson Center, migrants account for an average of 70 percent
of the employed population in the GCC and over 95 percent of private sector
workers in some Gulf nations. This includes migrant workers from Arab
countries, the EU, the US, and Asia filling semi-skilled and highly skilled
labor positions.
According to data from the UN Department of Economic and
Social Affairs, there were 36 million international migrants across GCC
countries, Jordan, and Lebanon in 2020. Other studies suggest that around 12.5
million foreigners are in the GCC, representing just under 40 percent of the
total population.
How Arab migrants support home economies
A closer look at how Arab migrant workers contribute to
their countries’ GDP underlines the growing importance of this sector in
supporting domestic economies. Recent figures put Egyptian expatriates at
between 12 to 14 million. In the financial year 2021–2022, remittances from
Egyptian expatriates touched $31.9 billion, a slight increase from $31.4
billion the previous fiscal year, according to data released by the Central
Bank of Egypt. That is nearly 90 per cent of the country’s net international
reserves, while these remittances contribute 6.7 percent of the country’s total
GDP.
To prevent brain drain, Arab countries should focus on creating an environment to lure foreign investments so that skilled labor can find jobs at home.
Jordan is another example of how expatriate workers are
becoming key contributors to foreign currency and a backbone of the Kingdom’s
GDP. The Jordanian economy is increasingly dependent on remittances from its
labor force, mainly in the GCC, contributing an average of 10 per cent to the
GDP annually. The latest added value to the GDP from 2021 is 11.29 percent. For
comparison, the world average in 2021 based on 122 countries is 5.80 percent
only. Jordan Central Bank said that expatriates’ remittances increased by 1.5
percent in 2022 compared with the previous year, reaching a total of $3.452
billion.
According to recent figures, approximately 786,000
Jordanians are expatriates or about 10.5 per cent of the population. One-third
of them live in Saudi Arabia, followed by the UAE, the US, Kuwait, and Qatar.
Countries like Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon traditionally
provided skilled labor to host countries, especially in education, health,
middle management, banking and communication sectors. It is important to note
that these labor-exporting countries have high rates of unemployment that their
local economies have not been able to deal with.
While employment in GCC countries has been changing in the
past few years with employment strategies aimed at replacing expatriates with
national employees, new job markets are slowly opening elsewhere.
Germany seeks skilled labor from Levant
Most EU countries have historically received migrant workers
from former colonies, especially North Africa, Central Africa, and Western
Asia. Now some countries are also opening up to highly skilled labor from the
Levant.
For example, Germany is facing a growing shortage of skilled
workers. In 2022, the country’s labor shortage rose to an all-time high: the
Institute for Employment Research found 1.74 million vacant positions
throughout Germany. In 2023 Germany’s economy was looking for skilled labor to
fill positions in computer science/IT and software development, electronics
engineering, mechanical engineering, account management and business analytics,
nursing and healthcare, civil engineering, and architecture.
While Germany has the lowest barriers to high-skilled
immigrant workers among the OECD, the number of workers from outside the EU and
the European Free Trade Area is 25,000 a year, or around 0.02 per cent of the
population. Now Germany is encouraging applicants from Arab countries like
Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon, and Iraq to apply for jobs in critical sectors.
Jordan has a 40 percent unemployment rate among engineers.
German companies are investing in programs in Jordan to prepare engineers to
work in Germany. Jordanian nurses too are finding employment in Germany. Since
Jordan is a mixed migration economy, many jobs vacated by Jordanians are being
filled by Syrians and other nationalities.
Arab governments, especially those with high unemployment figures,
especially among skilled labor, should give special attention to expatriate
workers, who are key contributors to the local economy. The dynamics of the
labor movement are shifting, and governments should adapt their strategies
accordingly.
One downside is brain drain. To prevent that, governments
should focus on creating an environment to lure foreign investments so that
skilled labor can find jobs at home.
Osama Al Sharif is a journalist and political commentator
based in Amman.
This article was published originally on Gulf News.
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