Conditions of Work and Employment Series No. 24

A comparison of public and private sector earnings in Jordan

This study was carried out in the second semester of 2009 at the request of the then Minister of Labour of Jordan, HE Dr. Gazi Shbaikat.
The study was undertaken within the framework of the Decent Work Country Programme for Jordan, and addresses key employment issues under the National Agenda (Koullouna Urdun) and its Executive Programmes for 2007-2009 and 2010-2012. Its findings and recommendations should provide the analytical framework to inform the development of a national wage policy for Jordan, and will serve as important references for the formulation of the new second generation of the Decent Work Country Programme which is presently under development.
The main purpose of this study is to assess the extent of the disparities in earnings between the public and private sectors in Jordan and their implications for labour supply, especially of low-skilled labour, to the private sector, thereby establishing whether the general level of wages in the public sector is adequate.