Employment of Syrian refugees in Jordan: challenges and opportunities

Employment is a key issue for refugees, host states, and local communities, whose interests in this area often diverge. Based on an ethnographic qualitative study among Syrian refugees and Jordanian citizens, this research sheds much-needed light on the dynamics of employment of refugees in Jordan. Research findings demonstrate how Syrian refugees work in both the formal and informal sectors of the labor market with an emphasis on legal precarity, job insecurity, poor working conditions, and workplace discrimination. Refugee women face additional challenges due to gender roles and cultural sensitivities. Employment also brings opportunities to refugees with regards to access to sustainable livelihoods, self-sufficiency, socialization, and regaining of the sense of dignity. Growing Syrian refugee employment in Jordan makes an urgent need for social workers to focus their efforts on addressing work-related problems and making advancements benefiting refugees, host communities, and policymakers.