Digital Employment Platform in Kurdistan Region of Iraq

Iraq has suffered from decades of conflict and economic volatility, which affected the economy and the labour force, and recent estimates suggest at least 11 million Iraqis are in need of some form of humanitarian assistance.
In turn, Iraq faces a significant jobs crisis. The country has one of the lowest employment-to-population ratios in the region, and almost a quarter of the labour force is either unemployed or underemployed, with over 1.7 million Iraqis of working age unemployed (leading to a national unemployment rate of 16.5 percent).
Some groups of workers are more heavily affected than others. For example, women face particular challenges: only some 10.5 percent of working-age women engaged in the labour force, and of those, 28.2 percent are unemployed – compared to 14.7 percent of men), and they are also more likely to be underemployed or work in part-time employment. In turn, unemployment among young workers reaches 35.8 percent, while 36.7 percent of youth are not in employment education or training – reaching 52.3 percent among young women, compared to 22.1 percent among young men).
Forcible displaced populations – including both IDPs and refugees – also face significant challenges in the labour force, especially refugees who require work permits in order to be formally employed, and the majority of whom continue to struggle to secure sufficient employment and livelihoods to meet their basic needs. Estimates suggest that some 27% of IDPs are unemployed.
In addition to high unemployment levels, Iraqi labour force is also characterised by high levels of informality, which accounts for 66.6 percent of the total employment. Informality is mainly found in the private sector, with construction and agriculture (two of the largest sectors of employment in the private sector) both characterised by significant levels of informal work.
There are several factors driving these numbers. Inequalities in working conditions between the private and public sector lead to a preference among workers to find public-sector employment. However, the public sector does not create sufficient jobs to keep up with the growing labour force – indeed, some 60 percent of Iraqis are under the age of 25. Other factors include the low productivity – and therefore limited employment opportunities – in the private sector, the relatively low levels of human capital among Iraqi youth, the displacement context, and discrimination faced by women in the labour market.
This highlights the crucial need to address the jobs crisis in Iraq by supporting workers to find decent work, and promote the transition from the informal to the formal economy.