Authorities seek to ‘Jordanise’ labour sector

AMMAN – The Labour Ministry is preparing an action plan to “Jordanise” some sectors by replacing guest workers with Jordanians, a government official said Saturday. 

Labour Ministry Secretary General Hamadah Abu Nijmeh told The Jordan Times over the phone that the healthcare, industrial and wholesale sectors are among the targeted areas in the ministry’s plan to raise the percentage of the Jordanian workforce. 

“All economic sectors will be targeted,” Abu Nijmeh said, indicating that the plan aims to gradually increase the ratio of Jordanians to expatriate workers. 

He noted that the ministry has signed agreements with several associations representing key private sectors that entail setting the ratio of Jordanians to guest workers, and preparations are under way to launch recruitment campaigns across the Kingdom with the priority to find jobs for women and young people in remote areas. 

The official cited achievements or what he termed success stories in the hospitality and nursing sectors, explaining that Jordanians currently represent around 95 per cent of staff at four and five-star hotels. 

Nearly the same percentage applies for the nursing sector, he said. 

According to Abu Nijmeh, the National Recruitment Campaign the ministry launched in 2013 has so far secured over 60,000 jobs for Jordanians. 

In a statement issued by the ministry Saturday, Labour Minister Nidal Katamine said the strategy will focus on reducing unemployment by creating job opportunities in the governorates, in addition to finding jobs for Jordanians outside the Kingdom. 

The minister added that the action plan requires more coordination between the public and private sectors, citing the influx of Syrian refugees into the Kingdom and freezing recruitment in public agencies as among the challenges facing the labour market. 

Official figures estimate the number of guest workers in the Kingdom to be almost 1 million people, with Egyptians representing nearly two-thirds of them.