labor watch - A scientific study revealed that the number of women working in the public sector preceded that of women working in the private sector. Females working in the public sector during the last decade represented a percentage of 33.00% against 21.00% in the private sector. Another sample of males showed a percentage of 67.00% working in the public sector against 79.00% in the private sector.
The recent study carried out by the Strategic Studies Center of Jordan University highlighted the necessity to focus on development of the educational system in order to upgrade abilities of workers in the Kingdom noting that economic return of individuals increases as they enjoy a better level of education.
The study, prepared by Dr. Mosa Shtaiwi and researcher Ali Alassaf emphasized that government subsidy should be directed first to higher education institutions who suffered from major financial crises; as according to the study this would have a positive impact with regard to increasing the number of qualified workers and uplifting the skills in the labor market, which in turn leads to improvement of wage rates and lowering levels of unemployment and poverty.
The study went on advocating that focus should be directed to intensifying investment in advanced and high technology for improving the technological content of the Jordanian economy would result in higher demand on university graduates particularly at the private sector; in addition to helping in localization of Jordanian workers, and reduce the phenomenon of brain drain to the outside.
Moreover, the study pointed that the most important conclusions related to education returns were based on the need to maximize these returns through increasing wage differences between educational groups in order to improve the terms of engaging in higher educational stages and not contenting with basic education.
The financial subsidy alone, according to the study, shall not be enough. The study pointed to the importance of reforming the educational system through focusing on those disciplines which have a direct link to the labor market, concentrate on upgrading the quality of education, and providing graduates with necessary skills in order to upgrade their competencies in their fields.
Unlike the expected, the study mentioned that the average wage rate of males was higher than that of females both in the public and private sectors; adding that males earn higher wages than females.