PM urges youth to seize job opportunities in private sector

AMMAN — Recruitment in the public sector, including employment under contracts, must be based on clear and transparent selection criteria without nepotism, Prime Minister Omar Razzaz said on Monday.

“We want everyone to have the conviction that all who were employed in the public sector were employed because they have earned their position by meeting the competence and ranking standards of the Civil Service Bureau [CSB] and not through other considerations,” Razzaz added.

The premier's remarks came during a meeting with a group of Jordanian youth from Ajloun, 70km northwest of Amman, organised by the CSB for a number of its applicants from the governorate, as part of a series of such meetings throughout the Kingdom, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

His Majesty King Abdullah has directed the government to give unemployment and recruitment the top priority, Razzaz said, stressing that the government has exerted serious efforts to create job opportunities and calling on young jobseekers to apply for available employment opportunities even if they were outside their specialties. 

The government also urged jobseekers to look for opportunities provided by the Jordanian economic sector rather than remaining on the waiting list for long, explaining that the absorptive capacity of the public sector is “very limited” in light of 380,000 job applications currently at the CSB.

The premier also stressed the need for prioritising humanitarian cases according to clear and transparent criteria, particularly for families with large numbers of jobless graduates or unemployed spouses. 

Talks also went over the government’s pledges and plans to create 30,000 job opportunities in the private sector during 2019, with Razzaz calling on jobseekers to benefit from the National Service programme, which focuses on training young people and assisting them in obtaining professional licences in various sectors.

Recruitment worldwide is tied to economic growth, Razzaz added, noting that the Kingdom has experienced an economic stagnation during the last 10 years, a huge part of which can be attributed to regional conditions, according to Petra.

Discussions also focused on alternative opportunities and the need for seizing them temporarily or permanently or temporary solutions, which, Razzaz stressed, would not affect the applicant’s completion or eligibility for vacancies in the public sector. 

CSB President Nidal Batayneh underscored that this meeting is the first of many scheduled to be held in the various governorates across the Kingdom, Petra added.