The issue of unemployment in Jordan is now entering an even more complex stage, because the challenge is no longer merely internal, tied to weak growth and structural imbalances in the labor market and education system. It is now also being fueled by the American-Israeli war on Iran and its regional expansion.

 

Under such circumstances, losses and disruptions are not limited to rising energy and transport costs or disturbances in trade and tourism. They also extend to weakening investor and consumer confidence, making the private sector more hesitant to expand, and delaying investment decisions. All of this directly affects the economy’s ability to create new job opportunities. Economies across the region, including Jordan, are facing a high level of uncertainty caused by geopolitical tensions, which is putting pressure on growth, investment, and employment.

 

It is true that the Jordanian economy has shown a degree of resilience in recent years, but this resilience has had only a limited impact on the labor market. Unemployment rates have remained high, reflecting the depth of the structural employment crisis. This means that any regional shock, especially if it is prolonged, will hit a labor market that is already fragile and suffering from a mismatch between education outcomes and market needs, weak productive investment, and a limited number of labor-intensive sectors.

 

The concern is not limited to the Jordanian domestic context. It also extends to labor markets in the Gulf states, which have historically served as an important outlet for Jordanian workers and a significant source of income and remittances. If the war and its expansion lead to weaker business confidence, slower investment, or a reordering of spending priorities across the region, job opportunities available to Jordanians abroad may also shrink. At the same time, declining domestic consumption and slower private investment within Jordan may affect sectors such as tourism, services, transport, trade, and even some industrial activities, thereby intensifying pressures on youth, women, and recent graduates, who are already the most vulnerable groups in the labor market.

 

From this perspective, Jordan’s efforts to stop the war and prevent its expansion acquire direct economic and social importance, no less significant than their strategic, political, and security importance. Ending the war is not only a political and military demand; it is also a necessity for protecting economic and social stability and for limiting the deterioration of unemployment, poverty, and vulnerability indicators. But this alone is not enough. What is required nationally is action on two levels. The first is focusing on protecting the sectors most exposed to harm, especially tourism, supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, and expanding employment programs linked to production and training. The second is strategic, based on restoring priority to sectors capable of generating real employment opportunities and increasing support for them, such as manufacturing, modern agriculture, renewable energy, and the digital economy, alongside developing the education and vocational training system in line with labor market needs. International organizations have repeatedly stressed that job creation, especially for youth and women, requires more effective policies to strengthen investment, productivity, digitalization, and competitive openness.

 

The continuation of the war will not only impose additional geopolitical burdens on Jordan, but will also deepen its employment and social crisis. For this reason, national preparedness is no longer a luxury, but an urgent necessity to formulate immediate and strategic solutions that enhance new job opportunities, reduce the impact of shocks, and protect society from economic and social costs that are likely to rise if the war continues.