Compass – Monitor

A report issued by the World Bank on employment in the Middle East and North Africa region revealed that 59% of the total employment in Jordan is informal, and that 75% of private sector employment is also informal.

Insurance expert and jurist Musa Al-Subaihi described the report’s numbers as shocking, asking, “Have the government and the insurance read the World Bank report on unorganized employment and what did they do…?”

The report provided new evidence on product market regulations covering policies that encourage or discourage competition in the market in Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, UAE and West Bank/Gaza that allow for the first time comparisons within the MENA region and also with 51 countries. Outside the region.

Al-Subaihi said, “The report titled (Unrealized Jobs: Reshaping the Role of Governments towards Markets and Employment in the Middle East and North Africa) indicates another shocking fact, which is that (75%) of Jordanian private sector employment is informal employment?”

The expert confirmed through his account on Facebook, “If this study is accurate, it means that the challenges before us without seeing them are very great, and that many of our studies and expectations were not based on correct foundations, and therefore many of our policies in this direction were wrong.”

The report said that most of the region’s economies lack the ability to compete in the market, and one of the main reasons for this is the state-owned enterprises that play a dominant role and enjoy preferential treatment, in terms of taxes, financing and subsidies. In addition, MENA countries have government regulators and operators in SOEs, which dampens competition, while price controls and subsidies reduce incentives for private sector participation.

Al-Subaihi wondered about the role of the government and the Social Security Institution, saying, “And what can they do about the reality of this situation for the labor market and workers, and whether we are on the verge of a greater expansion of employment in the unorganized sectors due to the weak ability of the official economy to create sufficient new job opportunities, and what This affected the social protections of workers.”

The report called for reforms in some countries to address restrictions on women’s work in specific industries, as well as limited working hours for women, wage inequality compared to men, and the need for women to obtain husband’s permission to work.

The report cited a series of stories from entrepreneurs in the region that reveal the common obstacles they face such as lack of access to financing for new ventures, burdensome lending and tax requirements, and social resistance to non-traditional work.

Among these stories, the story of Hamdi Al-Tabbaa, who had launched an online education platform to help others gain the academic advantages that benefited him, was presented. He had failed in an earlier attempt to launch a small food business due to a lack of technological infrastructure, expertise and resources.