Employment promotion units to connect jobseekers with vacancies in industrial sector

AMMAN — Jobseekers and employers in the industrial sector can now benefit from a database that allows them to survey job openings and consider a range of employment options, after the establishment of the East Amman Employment Promotion Unit (EPU).

Launched by the East Amman Industrial Investors Association (EAIIA) and funded by USAID’s Jordan Workforce Development Project (WFD), the EPU will help jobseekers enter the labour market and acquaint them with the vacancies available in the industrial sector, Ayman Bilbeisi, EAIIA executive director, said on Monday at the EPU’s official opening ceremony.

“The EPU is aimed at supplying the industrial sector with qualified workforce after receiving training on communication skills and the work environment in industrial facilities,” Bilbeisi highlighted.

Labour Minister Ali Ghezawi said the establishment of the EPU signals the “ideal cooperation” between the private and public sectors in addressing poverty and unemployment.

Ghezawi stressed that “the ministry’s job is to organise the labour market, and not to provide jobs”, pledging to address any obstacles that hinder any new investments.

The EPU is expected to ensure the best utilisation of human and financial resources, as well as integrating employees in the private sector and following up on their early employment stages to guarantee their job security, the minister added.

Ghezawi also thanked USAID for its role in creating partnerships with the privates sector.

USAID Mission Director Jim Barnhart said productive relations between public and private sectors achieve “far greater results than any sector acting alone”.

“Because the private sector is leading this endeavour, with members of the industrial community seeking to find employees, and the government providing all legal needs..., this provides a greater possibility for the endeavour to be sustainable for so many years,” Barnhart added.

Omar Qaryouti, WFD regional director, said the signing of an agreement to establish three EPUs, one in Zarqa and another in Irbid in addition to the one, in Amman, took place eight months ago, noting that the east Amman unit, based at the EAIIA, started operations three months ago.

The Zarqa and Irbid units are based in the chambers of industry at the two governorates.

The $40 million WFD, launched in 2015, seeks to provide 25,000 new jobs, or improve the conditions of those already employed, over a five-year period.

“The importance of EPUs lies in the fact that the public sector has limited jobs to offer, giving the private sector a bigger role in employment and creating jobs,” said Qaryouti.

The EPUs, in the last three months, have received some 4,000 telephone calls from jobseekers inquiring about employment opportunities. They presented 700 counselling services to job applicants and contributed to employing 1,000 people out of 2,500 who were referred to employers at factories, he noted.

EAIIA Chairman Iyad Abu Haltam said the industrial sector is ready to launch new investments and expand existing ones, calling on the government to address obstacles facing investors.

He added that establishing these units aims at narrowing the gap between supply and demand on jobs in the industrial sector.