Employment companies, recruitment agencies face shutdowns — think tank

AMMAN — Employment companies and recruitment agencies that bring hope to the unemployed are themselves facing shutdowns having been impacted by government decisions since the beginning of the novel coronavirus crisis.

"The pandemic has destroyed us, there has been no work from January until now," Ahmad, an employee at a recruitment agency told the Phenix Centre for Economic Studies on Sunday, noting that the agency might close permanently if the situation remains the same.

The employee told the centre that he is a resident in Tafileh governorate, but rents an apartment in Amman, so he has to pay rent, transportation and bear the salary cuts among other responsibilities, according to a statement from the centre.

There are 52 recruitment agencies registered at the Labour Ministry, 22 of which are members of the Owners of Recruitment Companies Association in the Kingdom, according to the statement.

Owner of an employment company, Ibrahim, told the Phenix Centre that the sector needs a long period of time after the crisis is over to begin recovering, as it is directly connected to the global economy and companies outside Jordan.

"We may need months or years to make up for our losses and unlike the usual, companies around the world are ending the services of their employees and reducing the percentage of onboarding, which directly affects our work," Ibrahim said.

Farah, another owner of a recruitment company, criticised how "the government has not mentioned the damage that affected the sector neither in its statements nor in its press conferences".

She said that the sector depends mostly on tourism and travel in its work, which has been suspended since January, and is expected to remain thus until the end of this year due to closures and travel limitations.

Farah employs seven people in her company, and said that 30 per cent was deducted from their salaries for April and May, they have not gotten their pay for June and they are not working at present, unable to bring income and meet their dues or pay their taxes. 

The association's president Etrad Al Majali said the damage to the recruitment agencies' sector is very similar to that of the tourism sector, because their recovery depends on reopening international airports and the job markets abroad.

Speaking to the Phenix Centre, Majali said that at least 30 employment agencies have been shut down because they were unable to meet their financial dues and pay their employees.

The Phenix Centre in May published a report on the repercussions of the crisis on the Jordanian economy, warning about a hike in unemployment rates in the Kingdom, which reached 19.3 per cent in the first quarter of this year, according to the Department of Statistics.