Jordan News

Emad Abdel Karim

Two years after stopping the platform for applying for jobs granted by the State of Qatar to Jordan, the Qatari Minister of Labor has restored hopes among Jordanian youth to resume activating the platform and employing thousands of them.

Prime Minister Bishr Al-Khasawneh and Qatari Minister of Labor Ali bin Saeed bin Smaikh Al-Marri stressed, during their last meeting in the capital, Amman, the need to increase employment opportunities for Jordanians in the State of Qatar, enhance cooperation in the fields of work and activate the agreement signed between the two sides in February of the year 2020.

Details of the agreement signed between Jordan and Qatar go back two years, when the Embassy of Qatar in Jordan announced in a statement at the beginning of the year 2020, that the Emir of the country, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, directed his government to provide 10,000 additional job opportunities for Jordanians and open a center in Amman to facilitate the implementation of the step.

At that time, a special platform was established to register Jordanians with experience and job seekers, so that they could be selected according to the needs of the Qatari labor market from those experiences.

The platform was suspended more than once, and a lot of rumors spread about it, and the Jordanian government’s efforts to obtain the available number of Qatari jobs failed for unknown reasons, but expectations indicate that the spread of the new Corona virus was one of the main reasons that led to the suspension of the platform and the cessation of job applications for Jordanians in Qatar. .

The meeting of the Jordanian government represented by the Prime Minister and Minister of Labor Nayef Istitiah to discuss joint cooperation with the State of Qatar, especially in the fields of work, and announcing the reopening of the platform for applying for jobs, and linking the “Qatar” platform with the “Sajj” platform in Jordan, are indicators of the Jordanian government’s endeavor to Investing in the opportunity and making it available to Jordanian expertise seeking to enter the Qatari labor market.

Esteité: Jobs will be announced soon

For his part, Minister of Labor Nayef Istitieh confirmed, in exclusive statements to “Jordan News”, that work will be done to complete what reached the employment agreement for Jordanians that was previously signed with the Qatari side, and the construction will be on top of what has been accomplished during that period, with modernization, development and cancellation. Any obstacles or defects encountered in the work of the platform for receiving applications for employment.

Stetia indicated that stopping the work of the application platform for work in Qatar, which was established in 2020, and the delay that occurred in hiring Jordanians, according to the agreement signed at the time, may be related to many matters, foremost of which is the impact of the Corona pandemic on countries of the world and the imposition of travel restrictions between one country and another.

He pointed out that the Qatari side grants facilities and preference in work to Jordanian expertise and competencies in a number of jobs in the private sector and not the government, and therefore the matter is linked to the labor market’s need for expertise or whether it has vacancies, and the areas in which vacancies are also available.

Stetia announced that the ministry will soon announce the details and methods of applying for jobs in Qatar, through the local media, after concluding final agreements with the Qatari side and identifying the needs and expertise required for the labor market there.

Abu Najma: Great competition for Qatari jobs

For his part, the Director of the Labor House (a non-profit and non-governmental organization) Hamada Abu Najma said that the Jordanian government is required to take advantage of the opportunity offered by the State of Qatar for Jordanian competencies and expertise by facilitating the required procedures and attracting the most prominent Jordanian expertise and available competencies and granting opportunities to train Jordanians and prepare for admission in Available job opportunities, whether in Qatar or other Arab Gulf countries.

Abu Najma indicated that it is necessary to link with the electronic system prepared by the State of Qatar to see the need of the Qatari market and try to provide Jordanian expertise that suits the requirement, especially since the jobs provided by the Qatari government are mostly jobs in the private sector.

He pointed out that the level of competition witnessed by jobs in the Arab Gulf states is great among job applicants of all nationalities, especially in light of the experiences and languages ​​owned by some other nationalities and their acceptance of low salaries that are not accepted by the Jordanian worker.

He added that the government of Qatar has granted Jordan something like a “quota” in jobs, and this requires us to provide the best of our expertise and competencies to benefit from the volume of facilities granted by the Qatari government.

On the reasons for the delay that accompanied the previous agreement, Abu Najma said that the delay in the arrival of applicants’ requests for some jobs is related to the needs of the private sector and the Qatari government, as it cannot force the private sector to do any employment work outside its needs.

And he indicated that the Qatari labor market is a large market through the availability of many projects in all fields, and therefore employment opportunities are available, but there are difficulties in general in obtaining job opportunities, whether in Qatar or other Gulf countries due to intense competition.

Qatari investment in Jordan exceeds $4.5 billion

Qatar is an important supporter of the Jordanian economy, as Qatari investments in Jordan exceed $4.5 billion.

In June 2018, the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced supporting Jordan’s economy with a $500 million investment package targeting infrastructure and tourism, and providing 10,000 jobs for Jordanian youth in Qatar.