740 pharmacists land jobs through JPhA

AMMAN —  The Jordan Pharmacists Association (JPhA) has secured around 740 jobs for pharmacists, of which 586 are inside the Kingdom and the rest are abroad, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

JPhA President Zeid Kilani said that the employment section in the association received 889 employment applications from pharmacists seeking jobs in Jordan and 1,189 applications from those seeking employment abroad, Petra reported. 

So far, Kilani stated, 586 jobs have been secured in the Kingdom's pharmacies, hospitals and medicine warehouses and companies, in addition to academic institutions, research centres and international organisations.

He said that these jobs helped employ 554 pharmacists in the aforementioned sectors, while 155 jobs were secured in Qatar (99 jobs), the UAE (49) and Kuwait (7), Petra reported. 

The unemployment rate among pharmacists stands at 30 per cent, and around 16,000 students are currently majoring in pharmaceutical sciences. 

“The major has become oversaturated for both males and females,” Kilani told The Jordan Times earlier in August. 

The number of pharmacist members in the association stands at 23,699 while the number of students in the academic year 2018/2019 is 15,704, “which is a clear indication that pharmacists seeking jobs will only suffer more”, the association president said at the time. 

The major comprises 75 per cent Jordanian students and 25 per cent expatriate students, Kilani noted, adding that allocating more seats for foreign students could be “one of the most significant solutions” to controlling unemployment without affecting Jordanian universities. 

Over the past few years, 670 pharmacies in the Kingdom shut down after facing financial problems and bankruptcy, which raises a red flag for the sector’s status and performance, Kilani said in a phone interview in June, noting that there are around 3,500 pharmacies in Jordan — one of the highest numbers in the world.