Ammon News - Young people were the "hardest-hit" group in the labor market due the Covid-19 pandemic-induced repercussions, a position assessment paper issued by Jordan Labor Watch (JLW) found.

The paper, which was issued by Phenix Center for Economics & Informatics Studies on the occasion of International Youth Day (IYD), indicated that the age group 20-24 suffered "unprecedented" unemployment rates, which stood at 45.7 percent in the first quarter of 2021, as the rate for jobless men has hit 41.9%, while 64.8% was for women, respectively.

"High" unemployment rates to the slowdown in economic growth during the past decade, which led to an economic downturn since the beginning of 2021, in addition to expansion of university education at the expense of vocational education, which doesn't meet the labor market's needs, as well as absence of Jordan's programs to qualify young people to find jobs, the paper's findings revealed.

The paper, issued in cooperation with the German Friedrich-Ebert Stiftung (FES), noted that the majority of young people are enrolled in the academic university education track, in contrast to the "modest" numbers joining technical and vocational intermediate education, which led to a "significant" increase in unemployment rates among university graduates, reaching 79.6% for women and 25.1% for men, respectively.

On solutions, the paper called for promoting economic growth, employing young people in investment projects, and providing "safe and decent" job opportunities for all.
The paper also called for improving working conditions in the private sector by expanding coverage of youth under the social security protection system, activating roles of trade unions, developing inspection systems, and hiking wages.

Regarding reforms on the higher education landscape, the paper called for the need to revisit education policies to expand technical and vocational intermediate education and reduce volume of university education, taking into consideration the majority of job opportunities are generated by Jordan's private sector.

(Petra)