THE THIRD quarter of this fiscal year saw a marked slowdown in job growth nationwide, as well as a strong centrality in the distribution of jobs, the analysis of demand in the Egyptian labour market for the third quarter of 2022 carried out by the Egyptian Centre for Economic Studies (ECES) showed.

The study aims to helpdecision-makers and job seekers alikeidentify jobs and skills most in demand and where they are concentrated. According to the study, most jobs were concentrated in Cairo, Giza and Alexandria, with the capital holding almost 50 per cent of the jobs.

Around 25,500white collar jobs were on offer, 87 per cent concentrated in Greater Cairo. Border and Canal governorates as well as Upper Egypt governorates were home to only 2.5 per cent of white collar jobs.

The third quarter saw the creation of almost 18,000 blue collar jobs, 70 per cent of which were in Greater Cairo and seven per cent in border and Canal governorates as well as Upper Egypt governorates put together.

The sectors that saw the highest white collar job growth included advertising and marketing,customer service, information technology, and software development. The industries that saw the least growth in jobs were education and hospitality.

Blue collar jobs grew by only 2.8 per cent in the third quarter, compared to 28 per cent in the second quarter because of the difficulties facing the business community, especially following the war in Ukraine. Jobs in sales and marketing continued to grow, unlike services, hospitality, industry and agriculture which saw job creation in the second quarter butwhich declined in the third quarter. Abla Abdel-Latif, ECES executive director,said industry produced the least jobs in the third quarter, indicating a contraction in economic activity. She stressed that industry should lead in job generation.

The study also found that around 40 per cent of blue collar jobs require higher education,a waste of human resources and misplaced employment.Abdel-Latif pointed out that the requirement of 40 per cent of jobs for higher education indicates that there are no opportunities for technical education outputs, “which must be dealt with differently through policymakers, to keep up with the needs of the labour market”.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 26 May, 2022 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly.