Khaberni - The number of supported employment contracts that have been signed within the National Employment Program until the end of the third quarter of this current year reached 55,052 contracts, distributed as 26,954 for males and 28,098 for females, which constitutes 51 percent for females.
Mohammad Al-Zyoud, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Labor, stated that the number of establishments registered in the program reached 3,317 establishments from various economic sectors, indicating that this number reflects the private sector's confidence in the National Employment Program and its role in supporting job opportunities and attracting qualified national talents.
He pointed out that 6,726 beneficiaries from the National Aid Fund have benefited from the job opportunities provided by the program, including 3,973 males and 2,753 females, affirming that this step contributes to improving the living conditions of families and enhancing self-reliance.
He noted that the program has given significant importance to capacity building and skills development, as 42,541 employees received training on job skills inside and outside their establishments, while 10,765 employees received specialized training in work skills and occupational safety and health in cooperation with the Vocational Training Corporation, which contributed to enhancing their efficiency and readiness for the job market.
Al-Zyoud confirmed that the National Employment Program continues to implement its programs and initiatives aimed at providing decent and sustainable job opportunities for youth and women in various provinces within a comprehensive national vision that seeks to enhance productive employment and empower human resources and support the national economy.
It should be noted that the National Employment Program was restructured after the project management unit completed all necessary technical and procedural requirements, where the new procedures began to be implemented from the beginning of last September, and the duration of the program has been extended until July 31, 2028, i.e., an increase of 31 months, with the aim of increasing the employment of Jordanians and reducing the operational costs on the private sector and completing the planned activities to achieve the developmental objectives of the project.
The restructuring process included expanding the target age group to include those from 18 to 45 years old instead of 18 to 40, alongside improving the benefits offered to establishments of the private sector and workers, as well as increasing the wage support from 130 to 145 Jordanian Dinar per month for 9 months, in addition to the program's contribution to transportation allowance by 10 Dinars monthly for males and 15 Dinars for females, supporting women's participation in the labor market and raising its contribution in social security subscriptions from 10 to 12 Dinars monthly for 9 months.
Among the most prominent amendments, also, was the extension of the wage support duration for workers through the program from 6 to 9 months to enhance their skills and increase their productivity and sustainability in the job market, as well as increasing the transportation allowance for beneficiaries from the National Aid Fund from 10 to 30 Dinars to facilitate their access to work locations.
The update also included increasing the wage support duration for persons with disabilities to 12 months to encourage their employment and allocating special support for graduates of the Vocational Training Corporation and holders of BTEC certificates for 12 months instead of 9, to enable them to integrate into the labor market.
Additionally, current beneficiaries of the program can now benefit from the new features, while former beneficiaries who have not completed their support period are allowed to continue in other establishments to complete the remaining duration.
The restructuring also included adding a new axis called "Building the Capacities of Job Seekers," which aims to develop the skills of job seekers in writing resumes, conducting interviews, using technology in searching for job opportunities, ensuring the accuracy of their data, and the seriousness of their intentions.
Training companies are also now allowed to cooperate with private sector establishments to identify their needs and train job seekers and employ them through the National Employment Program platform, according to a specific mechanism for disbursing financial entitlements based on the number of trainees employed.
Also among the new features, is the support for self-employed individuals (entrepreneurs) through guidance and training during work to help them grow and sustain their projects, especially in their early stages, and the program allows small and medium-sized business owners to benefit from the training and guidance in areas such as marketing, accounting, and production, in addition to the possibility of hiring a number of their workers to benefit from wage support after the training ends.
