Study sheds light on mining sector challenges

AMMAN — A total of 31,412 labourers were employed by the mining sector in 2019, 76 per cent of which were Jordanians, a study revealed on Saturday.

The study, prepared by the National Centre for Human Resources Development (NCHRD) and titled "Gap between supply and demand in the mining sector", reflects on the sector's importance in the Kingdom, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

NCHRD President Abdullah Ababneh said that workers are distributed among 6,250 facilities, of which the work force is 98.2 per cent male and 7.6 per cent are young people aged between 15 and 24.

Ababneh said that 73 per cent of male staff holds a secondary certificate or less, while 53 per cent of the total women working in the sector hold a BA degree.

He added that 18 per cent of the facilities are individual entities that face difficulties appointing workers due to the shortage of qualified workforce and “the lack of potential workers with positive attitude towards the work nature”.

As for challenges facing the mining sector, 16 per cent of business owners said that the top challenges include weak financial incentives that can attract more investments, while 8 per cent attributed these challenges to procedures hindering work. 

A total of 8 per cent of employers said that these challenges are the result of weak promotion of investment in the sector. 

Ababneh said that the study highlighted the importance of the centre to be responsible for developing the vocational and technical skills of workers through drawing policies for training and employment of Jordanian workforce in the industry.