‘Ministry working to secure 4,000 job opportunities for women in remote areas’

AMMAN — The Labour Ministry is working with its partners to create 4,000 job opportunities for women in remote areas and governorates, Labour Ministry Secretary General Hamadah Abu Nijmeh said Saturday.

In an interview with the Jordan News Agency, Petra, Abu Nijmeh said the ministry encouraged factories to establish branches in remote areas, expecting 8,000 job opportunities to be available for women in 30 different locations around the Kingdom by year end.

The inspection campaign the ministry is conducting to ensure establishments’ compliance with the Labour Law has helped create job opportunities in supervision of health, work safety and crèches, and will also enhance the participation of women in the labour market, the official told Petra.

Moreover, the ministry is working on increasing the participation of people with disabilities in the workforce, Abu Nijmeh said. 

He added that 15,000 job opportunities will be available in the private sector if companies abide by the law, and the ministry will work to apply it in the public sector as well.

The Law on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities stipulates that private and public sector institutions with over 25 and less than 50 employees are obligated to employ one disabled person, while in companies with over 50 employees, 4 per cent must be people with disabilities.

Abu Nijmeh also said the National Employment Strategy’s executive plan is flexible, and work is under way on 53 projects listed in the plan.

He added that the rapid developments witnessed in the job market as a result of the refugee influx constitute challenges that the Kingdom cannot face alone, calling on the international community to help, according to Petra.