Jordan: Matchmaking in the job market

How can Jordanian citizens develop professional skills that are in demand? How can they be supported by local technical and vocational schools in Jordan? And how can companies looking for skilled staff best be matched with what graduates from vocational training have to offer? These are the questions that Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH has advised the Jordanian government on since 2017 - on behalf of the European Union (EU). 

A new law in Jordan facilitates the matchmaking in the national job market for graduates from technical vocational trainings. As a result of the new law representatives of the Jordanian government, companies, civil society organisations and trade unions now meet on a regular basis. Together they identify the skills the economy needs and how technical and vocational education facilities can be supported to match this demand. 

With the help of GIZ International Services, curricula for more than 300 professions were updated and standardized across the country. More than 2200 teachers at 70 education facilities can now improve the quality of their lessons by using new technical equipment. For instance, the Aqaba Maritime Centre was provided with a new ship simulator. Future Jordanian ship captains can now apply their theoretical knowledge on this simulator in their home country. To receive a comparable practical training, they would have needed to travel to Alexandria in Egypt - an endeavour that not many can afford. Thanks to these improvements, more than 10,000 students have already received training of a higher quality. 

To promote career opportunities for the students, job fairs, that were generally restricted to college graduates, now also invite graduates from vocational training. Young Jordanians can learn more about their career options here and potentially even meet future employers. For instance, GIZ and other organisations supported the Akhtaboot job fair in September 2018. Six months later, 273 students that had visited the fair, were employed by companies they had met there.