JSF issues paper entitled "Work Environment, Reducing Labour Turnover"

AMMAN — The Jordan Strategy Forum (JSF) on Thursday has issued a new paper in a series of "brief" papers entitled "Work Environment and Reducing Labour Turnover", in which it highlighted the impact of the work environment on employment stability and female economic participation, in addition to the importance of enhancing labour productivity and improving policies and working conditions to support economic competitiveness, and the role of the public and private sectors in achieving this.

In the paper, the Forum stressed that labour productivity is a "key" factor in enhancing business competitiveness and achieving economic growth, because of its role in increasing profits and wages, reducing production costs and raising tax revenues, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

He pointed out that productivity is affected by several factors, most notably, human capital, technology, labour market regulation, wages incentives, in addition to working conditions and environment, noting that the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has confirmed that "long-term" cost savings are achieved when the company can attract a "higher quality" workforce by expanding and retaining the pool of  job applicants, by reducing the turnover rate of employees and encouraging them to stay in the company.

In this context, the JSF indicated a "positive" relationship between improved working conditions and a decrease in the rate of labour turnover, noting that the Department of Statistics (DoS) has implemented the "New Job Opportunities Survey", which provides an "accurate" database on new and abandoned jobs, the distribution of individuals in them, and the reasons for their departure from work.

In explaining job leaving, the Forum emphasised that factors associated with the work environment "clearly" outweigh economic reasons or financial incentives.

The Forum stressed the need to pay "serious" attention to this issue, especially from private sector establishments and institutions, for its "vital" role in raising the productivity of workers and achieving "higher" profitability for business.

The forum called for enhancing the role of the concerned authorities in developing and improving the work environment, especially in light of their "continuous" efforts to consolidate the culture of decent work, enhance levels of protection for workers, through laws and legislations, collective bargaining mechanisms between employers and employees, and the adoption of tools that stimulate voluntary compliance, pointing to the honour carried out by the Ministry of Labour for "distinguished" establishments in the fields of occupational health and safety from various economic sectors in May of this year.