GENEVA
– The
International Labor Organization (ILO) recently released a report
painting a concerning picture of job prospects for youth in the Arab world.
While many pursue high quality of education, they often face lower-skilled
jobs, informal work, and high unemployment.
اضافة اعلان
According
to the survey, these professions are often associated with lower skill levels
and are more vulnerable to informal employment, resulting in lower earnings and
less acceptable working circumstances, Al-Ghad reported.
Interestingly,
in Jordan and Lebanon, two countries with high-quality education systems, professionals,
technicians, and assistant professionals are among the most popular jobs for
young people. However, this group does not rank among the top three occupations
in other countries. Overall,
Arab youth are more likely to labor in the
informal economy than their adult counterparts. According to the survey,
informal work impacts eight out of ten young workers aged 15 to 24 and more
than six out of ten young people aged 25 to 29.
Individuals' engagement in informal employment
tends to decline as they age due in part to accumulated skills and experience.
Nonetheless, more than half of the adult population remains locked in the
informal sector, demonstrating the difficulties of migrating out of it, as well
as the region's overall scarcity of formal jobs.
Historically,
Arab youth have found jobs in the public sector. However, due to a lack of
suitable private-sector jobs, young people have been forced to pursue
non-traditional employment opportunities, such as the Internet economy and
freelance labor. While online platforms bring new career prospects, questions
remain about job quality and the level of safety provided.
In
terms of youth labor underutilization, the research states that Arab kids are
still disproportionately affected by job problems and labor market inequities.
They have lower employment-to-population ratios, lower labor force
participation, and higher unemployment. Last year, fewer than 20 percent of
young people worked, compared to 53.5 percent of adults. Similarly, youth
participation in the labor force was only 26.6 percent, less than half that of
adults.
These discrepancies can be attributed partly
to a greater number of young people pursuing an education. Other causes include
their high expectations, companies' unwillingness to hire and train them, a
mismatch between graduates' abilities and employer wants, and a general
scarcity of acceptable positions available to new entrants into the labor
market. Furthermore, juvenile unemployment rates remain a source of concern,
hitting 27.7 percent last year—four times the adult jobless rate.
While considerable progress has been made,
overcoming these difficulties will necessitate sustained efforts to close the
gap and establish more inclusive and sustainable job opportunities for Arab
youth.
While a higher proportion of young individuals
pursuing school accounts for some of these discrepancies, other factors also
play a role. These include rising youth expectations, employers' unwillingness
to hire and train them, a mismatch between graduates' abilities and employer
wants, and a general lack of acceptable and suitable positions available to new
entrants into the labor market.
In addition to reduced
employment-to-population ratios and labor force participation rates, youth
unemployment rates are a source of concern. Last year, the Arab region's youth
unemployment rate was 27.7 percent, four times the adult jobless rate.
A closer investigation exposes differences
between
Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and non-GCC countries. Non-GCC countries
have much higher youth unemployment rates. For example, Lebanon attained a high
of 47.8 percent in 2022, Syria 45.9 percent in 2021, and Jordan 42 percent in
2022.
These data highlight the enormous hurdles that young job searchers face
in these countries. Interestingly, while the GCC countries have lower youth
unemployment rates, they are not negligible. For example, Saudi Arabia had a
youth unemployment rate of 15.9 percent in 2022, whereas Kuwait had 15.4
percent in 2016/2017. Youth in the region confront more challenging conditions
than their adult counterparts.
In Jordan, young women's marital status
substantially impacts their educational and training options. According to the
research, 92.7 percent of married women are unemployed, vs 29.7 percent of
unmarried women.
Furthermore, of the 11 million Arab youth
enrolled in school and training last year, more than two-thirds were young
women who faced a double burden due to their gender. Discriminatory workplace
practices, unsupportive company environments, and a lack of gender-sensitive
policies and initiatives all lead to limited labor market participation.
Furthermore, traditional gender norms and
societal expectations place a significant weight on women to perform home
chores and give care. This may impede their capacity to pursue educational and
professional possibilities.
Against this backdrop, the ILO analysis
demonstrates that high unemployment rates have the potential to foment social
discontent and political instability if young people are out of work for
extended periods.
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