The Jordanian Labor Watch - The results of an international report issued by the International Labor Organization (ILO) last week were compatible with the studies and reports issued by the Jordanian Labor Watch predicting that unemployment rates in Jordan will increase in the coming years as a result of a series of economic and social policies implemented by successive governments, which have deepened the problems of the Jordanian labor force and created labor market imbalances.
The Labor Watch said in a statement issued yesterday that according to ILO report entitled "World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends in 2018" the employment growth is expected to fall short of labor force growth in emerging and developing countries, including Jordan, accompanied by the inability of local economies to create enough jobs and a lack of decent work conditions.
The Labor Watch confirms that the past few years have seen a significant decline in the number of job opportunities created in the Jordanian economy. The number of job opportunities has decreased in recent years, reaching 70 thousand in 2007 and decreasing to 48,000 in 2015. The statement said: "The decline in the number of job opportunities is due to several reasons, notably: the decline in economic growth rates in general, and the decline in the size of industrial projects that are creating a number of jobs, In addition to the existence of structural imbalances in the labor market, due to the lack of a strong relationship between economic growth rates and the employment of Jordanians, and a wide gap between the labor market needs and the outputs of university, technical and vocational education.
Unemployment soared to 18.5 per cent during the fourth quarter of 2017, which is an unprecedented 12-year rate. The unemployment rate among men was 15.4 percent compared to 30.0 percent for women for the same period. While unemployment rate among young people between the ages of 16-24, for those who were not in school were between 32.0 and 40.0 percent, which are among the highest in the world. The Labor Watch's statement confirms that the weak conditions of employment in Jordan are an inevitable result of a series of economic and social policies developed and implemented by successive governments.
These policies did not help create sufficient employment opportunities for graduates of the educational system. The Labor Watch attributed this to the economic policies implemented by the successive governments, including the current, which lack accountability, and the presence of weak parliaments unable to monitor the performance of governments effectively. As well as the large restrictions imposed on the society that forbids it from organizing themselves, especially on workers.