81267542 — Employment in Jordan 2030

For the last 10 years, Jordan's economy has failed to modernise, generate internal momentum or deliver any significant level of growth. Over this period, the country's GDP has grown by only 2-2.5 per cent per year (most recently by 2 per cent in 2018). GDP growth has halved compared with the ‘golden years’ between 2003 and 2009. Economically, Jordan is heavily dependent on the outside world. Give the region's many political flashpoints, this has weakened the country's economy and depressed the labour market. Among the other challenges it needs to address are its relatively high production costs compared with other countries in the region (e.g. wages, energy and transport), the failure of the economy to modernise and a lack of investment in promising new sectors that could generate innovative products, services and sustainable job opportunities. At the same time, the country's population has grown rapidly (from 5.1 million in 2004 to 10.4 million in 2019). The population is growing at around 2 per cent a year, and average life expectancy is around 73 (2017). In recent years, this population growth has been driven in part by the arrival of refugees from Syria. Unemployment is approaching 20 per cent. The rate among young people has been over 30 per cent for years. Under-employment and poor working conditions are also common. The low-wage sector (e.g. temporary industrial workers, textiles industry, vegetable farming, domestic workers) is regarded as unattractive by most Jordanians. Overall, there are not enough high-quality jobs in well-paid and fast growing sectors of the economy. Women are at a particular disadvantage. Sociocultural norms and the resulting gender inequalities make it very difficult to boost the level of economic participation among women. The government has established employment promotion as a high priority. At present, however, its focus is on rapid employment promotion measures, especially in the low-wage sector. The medium-term and long-term consequences of a lack of sustainable jobs are largely ignored by the government, the private sector and society. As a result, not enough is being invested in measures to create and promote sustainable jobs. At present, Jordan's employment policies are not designed to promote sustainable forms of employment that reflect the country's socio-economic conditions and its potential. Within German Development Cooperation in Jordan the module ‘Employment in Jordan 2030’ is expected to provide the conceptual framework for all projects with linkages to employment promotion. It complements the work of other employment modules by providing a long-term macroeconomic perspective on labour and economic policies, for example using forecasts of long-term labour market developments and policy recommendations. Tasks of the contractor: The contractor is requested to mainly deliver short-term expertise and therefore, to contribute to all indicators of the project. The contractor shall complete these tasks with a team of one coordinator and two pools of short-term experts.