The Lebanese Ministry of Industry, in cooperation with the Association of Industrialists, has announced 3,850 job vacancies in the sector, given the unprecedented high unemployment rate in Lebanon. The move was driven by McKinsey recommendations and a government initiative to protect national industries.
The announcement comes at a time when the Lebanese economy is facing a wave of crises. Lebanon is a consumer country and the productive sector, including national and local industries, is marginalized.
According to the McKinsey report, some 195,000 Lebanese are employed in the sector, meaning that 195,000 households depend in their living on industry.
The new opportunities in the industrial sector will be within the reach of the Lebanese youth, according to the president of the Lebanese Industrialists Association, Fadi Gemayel.
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, Gemayel said that some of those vacancies required proper training, noting that the Association would cooperate with the Technical and Vocational Education Program to set up centers in the industrial clusters.
“There are definitely jobs that suit administrators, technicians and many more,” he underlined.
As for the salaries, “they will be acceptable, of course, in conformity with the market,” he added.
Minister of Industry Wael Abou Faour announced the figures following a meeting with a delegation from the Industrialists Association. He noted that job vacancies were available in more than 75 factories and plants in various industrial sectors and across the Lebanese regions.
According to estimates, the vacancies are divided by job description as follows: 926 technical workers in areas such as electricity, electronics and maintenance, 400 food experts, 238 ordinary factory workers, such as packaging and delivery services, 161 porters and cleaners, and 100 administrative staff, such as accountants, supervisors and auditors, in addition to 25 drivers.
Gemayel emphasized that the industry “creates jobs, not only in the industrial sector, but in other sectors as well, such as banking, transport, advertising, security, maintenance and many others, as the industrial economic movement contributes to boosting the rest of the sectors.”
